You negotiated the coalition agreement with the CDU for the SPD. Now you are campaigning to vote against it in the SPD membership decision. Why?
We have an existing coalition agreement. If the SPD is to be terminated, there must be important reasons for doing so. In terms of central points, I don’t see where we should get anything better for Berlin with the CDU than in the existing contract with the Greens and the Left. We fought for it, but the protection of housing and tenants is neglected in the contract with the CDU. In school policy, I find the section on religious education and the heavy focus on high schools problematic. And the fact that the contract makes no statement about the extension of the A100 means that the federal government will simply allow further construction. I refuse.
Why were you unable to assert yourself on these points in the negotiations?
We were just sitting in the negotiations with a party that is pursuing other goals. The protection of existing apartments and tenants is very controversial with the CDU. Both areas are in the contract, but they are so vague that nothing will come of it, for example the ban on misappropriation or furnished living. In the end you are sitting there with a CDU that got 28 percent in the election. We have 18.4 percent. Of course, this is also reflected in what can be achieved.
So you’d rather go into the opposition then?
One can take note of the election result with humility. Then there follows the transition to the opposition. Or you say: We want to design. This is best done from the Red Town Hall. If I look at the signals from the Greens and the Left, it would certainly be possible to continue the existing coalition. I would also support that. But it doesn’t matter whether it’s opposition or the continuation of Red-Green-Red: In both cases, the result is the rejection of the coalition agreement with the CDU.
