Following the Left Party’s victory in the Berlin election, top candidate Elif Eralp said she would not compromise on the issue of expropriating large property companies in the upcoming coalition talks. “I have always said that if the Left Party enters government, then there will also be socialisation,” she told broadcaster RBB on Monday morning. “There is a valid referendum. Berliners voted for it.”
Eralp said expropriation was “legally possible, financially viable and one of the best ways to keep housing affordable”. “So I am going into the talks with this mandate very clearly,” the Left Party politician said. She was referring to possible coalition talks with the SPD and Greens, saying she saw the “most areas of common ground” with those two parties.
While the Greens, as a potential coalition partner, take a similar view of the issue of expropriation in light of the successful referendum, the SPD, which would be needed as a third coalition partner, is sceptical of such far-reaching measures. Eralp nevertheless expressed optimism. “The SPD party conference clearly also voted in favour of implementing the referendum, just as the Greens’ party conference did,” she said. She therefore assumed that “these votes are relevant”.
In her interview with RBB, the Left Party’s election winner also promised to pursue “a policy for all Berliners”, including those “who did not vote for me”. To achieve this, she said she particularly wanted to visit districts where other parties had won and listen to the concerns and issues of residents there.
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