Brandenburg’s Minister-President Dietmar Woidke (SPD) advocates for a grand coalition in Germany. “A grand coalition was my desired alliance even after the last federal election” Woidke told the “Tagesspiegel” and “Potsdamer Neuesten Nachrichten” (Wednesday’s editions). “Back then, I didn’t publicly say so.”
“I still hold it to be no bad constellation in today’s times, with a war in Europe and difficult decisions to be made, and also with the successes of the past 16 years under Angela Merkel” he emphasized.
In those years, Germany managed to become “a haven of stability in Europe, while other countries were in trouble.” He stressed that he would be for a grand coalition “of course and especially now under the leadership of the SPD.”
In Brandenburg, Woidke had narrowly won the state election in September 2024 after a comeback, beating the AfD. Giving advice to the SPD and its Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz, who is far behind in the polls, Woidke said: “The most important tip is not to lose cohesion, especially in difficult times” and “My second tip is not to let opinion polls drive you crazy. Before the state election, we were never in the lead in a single poll.”
Woidke had refused to campaign with the unpopular Chancellor in his election campaign, but Scholz now says they have a good relationship: “We always had a good relationship.