SPD deputy leader Rehlinger calls antisemitism the 'entry hurdle' for any Left Party deal
Saarland's premier said she personally could not imagine coalition talks with Berlin's Left Party 'under these conditions,' but declined to rule out alliances with the party altogether.
Archive image · Photo: Steffen Prößdorf / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Social Democratic deputy leader Anke Rehlinger set a high bar for cooperation with the Left Party. Speaking late Tuesday on ZDF's "Markus Lanz" talk show, the premier of Saarland said of the party's Berlin branch: "I personally could not imagine conducting coalition negotiations with them under these conditions." On antisemitism, she said: "That is the entry hurdle you have to clear, otherwise there is no point talking about policy at all."
Exploratory talks between the SPD, the Greens and the Left Party in Berlin have been strained by allegations of antisemitism against Left Party politicians, notably lawmaker Vanessa Emde over remarks about Israel. The Left Party's parliamentary group postponed a decision on Emde on Tuesday. Rehlinger called Berlin "a special case" and said the party could not be judged across the board, citing former Thuringia premier Bodo Ramelow as proof that serious governing with the Left is possible.
Michael Bröcker, editor-in-chief of Table.Briefings, urged the SPD on the same show to set much clearer conditions, saying Emde should not be a member of the parliamentary group and that there should be no expropriations before talks begin.