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German Die Linke Hopes for Strong Opposition to 'Unconstructive' Coalition

© AP Photo / Michael SohnGerman flags wave in front of the Reichstag building, host of the German Federal Parliament Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany. (File)
German flags wave in front of the Reichstag building, host of the German Federal Parliament Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany. (File) - Sputnik International
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A member of German's The Left party told Sputnik that the party hoped for a strong opposition as the rule of the coalition could hardly be constructive.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Germany's The Left party (Die Linke) hopes that under the rule of the so-called Jamaica coalition the country would need a strong opposition in parliament because the coalition's activities would barely be constructive, Wolfgang Gehrcke, a member of The Left, told Sputnik on Friday.

Interior view of the plenar hall of the German Federal Parliament, Bundestag, at the Reichstag building in Berlin, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2017. - Sputnik International
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The required majority to elect the German chancellor and for the formation of a government is 355 lawmakers. Following the elections held on September 24, the most likely scenario for German Chancellor Angela Merkel to govern would be the so-called Jamaica format coalition, including Merkel's Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) alliance, the Greens and the Free Democratic Party (FDP), named after the colors of the three parties, which would be 393 mandates in total.

"I think that there is no need to expect anything constructive from this government. That's why we hope for a very strong opposition. The opposition should say out loud its position and show initiative in order to prevent the government from doing anything different. That's why our Left Party and the Social Democrat Party [SPD] should think about potential areas for cooperation. And it should definitely include the issue of relations with Russia," Gehrcke said.

The German politician added that the government would barely be able to solve the most important issues for the country's society.

"Now there is a goal to ensure peoples' economic security. At the moment there is a very big problem of endless growth of residential rent. The distribution of wealth in society is yet another issue. Unfortunately, there is no need to expect that the government would solve these problems," the party representative said.

In the previous convocation of the parliament, the left-wing Die Linke party was the largest opposition party with 64 seats, as the ruling coalition comprised the CDU/CSU bloc and the SPD that finished first and second during the 2013 Bundestag election. Following the September vote, the party increased its representation in the parliament up to 69 lawmakers, while the SPD has 153 seats in the 709-seat Bundestag.

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