Germany’s Social Democrats Would Govern With The Greens

Germany’s centre-left chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz wants to lead Europe’s largest economy in a coalition government with the left-leaning Greens, Euractiv.com reports.

Scholz and his Social Democrats (SPD) have opened up a five-point lead over Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU party ahead of a Sept. 26 national election.

“I would like to govern together with the Greens,” Scholz told Tagesspiegel newspaper on Sunday, adding that the policy proposals of both parties had a lot of overlaps.

According to Euractiv.com, the SPD and the Greens both want to raise the national minimum wage to €12 per hour from €9.60, increase taxes for the super rich and accelerate the shift towards renewable energy to meet climate goals. Both also favour closer European integration.

At the same time, Scholz distanced himself from the left-wing Linke party, which he called not fit for government as long as the party did not clearly commit itself to the NATO military alliance, the transatlantic partnership with the United States and solid public finances. “These requirements are non-negotiable,” Scholz said.