The Greens in Schleswig-Holstein have ended the exploratory talks with the CDU and FDP about a possible renewal of the Jamaica coalition that has been in power since 2017. The party announced this on Thursday evening in Kiel. There is “no common basis” for a coalition in which one of the partners is not needed.

Schleswig-Holstein will probably get a new government coalition after all. Prime Minister Daniel Günther (CDU) said after several hours of consultations in a hotel in Kiel that he was extremely sorry that no agreement had been reached. He wanted a different result. The CDU state executive will now discuss the situation on Monday and make an offer for exploratory talks to one of the two previous coalition partners.

With 43.4 percent, the CDU missed the absolute majority in the state parliament of Kiel by just one seat in the state elections on May 8th. She would therefore only have a secure majority in parliament with the Greens or the FDP – nevertheless Günther had campaigned for a continuation of the tripartite alliance that has governed the north together since 2017.

Günther, as CDU state chairman, had invited the Greens and FDP to the meeting on Thursday. On Tuesday, a team of four from the CDU led by Günther had already spoken separately to the leaders of both parties – for five hours with the Greens and two hours with the FDP. The leaders of the Greens and FDP had already stated their clear preferences for a two-party coalition with the CDU, but had also declared themselves ready for talks beyond that.

Günther justified his course for a tripartite alliance with the high reputation of the coalition among the population. In the state elections, the CDU and the Greens had improved significantly with 18.3 percent, while the FDP only managed 6.4 percent after heavy losses.