The Social Democrats (SPD) won Sunday’s German election, and chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz says the centre-left party has the mandate to form a new government. Have the coalition talks started? Before we can even think about a new German government – and before the formal coalition discussions start – the first step is exploratory talks. After the last election in 2017, coalition talks were so difficult that it took 171 days to form a new government – it wasn’t until March of the following year that the new cabinet was sworn in. Nothing is certain and it all depends on how the coalition talks go.

Source: The Local September 28, 2021 09:54 UTC