Coalition agrees on budget with the Left and Greens

The Saxon minority coalition of CDU and SPD has reached an agreement with the Greens and the Left Party on the double budget for 2025/2026. This was announced by the parliamentary group leaders of the four parties in the state parliament in Dresden. The CDU-SPD coalition is ten votes short of a majority in parliament, which is why an agreement with opposition groups was necessary.

In order to reach an agreement, amendments from the Greens and the Left Party were incorporated into the government's draft double budget. The budget, with expenditure of 25 billion euros per year, does not include new borrowing. However, the partners reserve the option of borrowing for future budgets, as was made possible for the federal states by the Bundestag.

State parliament to vote next week

The Saxon state parliament is to vote on the double budget next week. Green parliamentary group leader Franziska Schubert pledged all seven of her group's votes in favor. According to Left Party parliamentary group leader Susanne Schaper, five of the six parliamentary group members have so far pledged their support. Both opposition parliamentary groups have pushed through amendments amounting to 125 million euros each.

According to CDU parliamentary group leader Christian Hartmann, the coalition had initially negotiated with the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) because it seemed easier with one partner. However, after the talks, the BSW only offered to abstain from the final vote in the state parliament.

SPD sees evidence of new political culture

SPD parliamentary group leader Henning Homann spoke of a "budget of cohesion and perspectives". It was the budget of a "minority coalition with constructive opposition parties" and an example of the new political culture in Saxony. It could work if people met as equals.

Greens parliamentary group leader Schubert emphasized, among other things, the signal effect of the agreement. The adoption of the double budget could help to ensure that "people once again have confidence in the effectiveness of democracy". They had adhered to the basic maxim of averting damage to the state.

Left: Cow is off the ice, but still needs food

"We have managed to reach compromises that we thought were unthinkable just a few weeks ago," said Left Party parliamentary group leader Schaper. "We are now getting the cow off the ice, but of course we must continue to fight to ensure that the cow continues to be fed." At the same time, she made it clear that the amended draft budget remains a coalition draft. If the budget had been drawn up by the left-wing parties, it would of course look very different.

"We were able to mitigate some of the hardships in these difficult negotiations," said Schaper. Nevertheless, we are far from breaking out into jubilant songs. The coalition was allowed to reach a budget decision because all alternatives would have been much worse. "The worst cuts program would be if the period without a budget were to continue."

The agreement on the budget is based on a consultation process agreed upon by the government and the opposition. As the largest opposition party, the AfD is not taking part in the process. It is available for cooperation, but not as part of a "democracy simulation", as AfD leader Jörg Urban described the procedure at the time.