Greens To Strive For Vice Chancellor Office In Future German Government - Reports

BERLIN (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 28th September, 2021) The Greens will leverage their third place in the German general election to have one of its members, presumably party co-chair Robert Habeck, as vice chancellor, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported on Monday, citing sources in the party.

Earlier in the day, Habeck said that the Greens prioritize negotiating a coalition with the Social Democrats and the liberal Free Democrats but consultations with the conservative CDU/CSU bloc are also possible.

The pivot to Habeck and away from the party's chancellor candidate, Annalena Baerbock, is explained by the party being convinced that she had a weaker showing than expected.

Baerbock also failed to win her single-member constituency while Habeck was elected directly into the Bundestag, thus confirming his popularity.

According to the German newspaper, the party thinks that it needs a shake-up. Just a few days ago, Habeck had his first talks with the Free Democratic Party (FDP), which is also aiming to enter the new coalition government.

The German parliamentary elections took place on Sunday. The Social Democratic Party outperformed outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling CDU/CSU bloc by 1.6 percentage points. The Greens and the FDP came in third and fourth, respectively.

The parties will now begin negotiations to form a coalition.