Germany’s Social Democrat (SPD) party will tally the final and most important vote on Sunday to approve the new coalition government between the SPD and Chancellor Angela Merkel’s more conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU). It was a contentious agreement from the beginning, but despite recent polls showing that the results could very much be up in the air, SPD Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks came out on Thursday to add some hope that the deal will be voted in.
“I expect it to turn out positively,” Hendricks stated in a news conference held in Berlin. Her reassurance was short but sweet to those fearing the alternative: new elections. Hendricks told the press that when it comes time to tally the votes in support of the coalition deal on Sunday, “I expect around 60 percent”.
The SPD’s 464,000 voting members have until Friday to cast their vote, but despite time running out, senior members from the SPD, CDU and CSU will have one more meeting on Thursday to hash out some remaining issues that may have been keeping some voting members on the fence.
