Germany's CDU and SPD to start the coalition talks on Friday – politico

The SPD leadership met on Thursday to complete its negotiating strategy. Together with General Secretary Matthias Miersch, the party relegation will include eight high -ranking SPD officials. The most important figures for the team include Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, deputy SPD chairman and Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil and co-chair Saskia Esken.

The CDU negotiation team initially counted six men, including Merz, the leader of the CSU -csu -Schwarter party, and the CDU general secretary Carsten Linnemann. The exclusion of women from the original squad pulled the setback and initiated the subsequent inclusion of female representatives, reported BILD.

The early talks are a significant step towards the formation of the next government of Germany after the election of the SNAP on February 23, in which no party secured a clear majority. While the CDU appeared as the strongest force, a CDU SPD alliance is considered the only means to reach a two-party coalition that excludes the right-wing extremist alternative for Germany (AfD), which took second place in the ballot paper.

All other parties who have won seats in parliament have excluded to form a coalition with the AfD.