Mr Klingbeil, it is said of Olaf Scholz that there are “no red lines” in exploratory talks.

Which election promises will the SPD now have to abandon?

Mona Jaeger

Deputy Editor in Charge of News.

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We want to have serious conversations because we want to get it done.

There are big tasks ahead of us: the modernization of the country, ambitious climate protection, the strengthening of Europe.

It's also about building respect in society, with a minimum wage and affordable rents.

That’s how we go into negotiations.

But we do that confidentially.

Specifically: How do you get the FDP to support a minimum wage of twelve euros, as the SPD demands?

I am not conducting public negotiations here.

We all still have the Jamaica talks of 2017 in our heads, which were just not trustworthy.

Where intermediate results were given out permanently.

That wasn't good for the atmosphere of the conversation.

I don't want that.

There will be tough content-related debates, we are three parties with different emphases, but let's first sit down and talk to each other.

Do the FDP and the Greens see it that way with confidentiality?

The Jamaica example after the last election is daunting.

In Rhineland-Palatinate, on the other hand, a traffic light was negotiated very trustingly, noiselessly and purposefully.

We must not think in terms of winners and losers, but in terms of topics and common goals, such as modernization and digitization, and social change.

We can't just go on like we have before.

Angela Merkel stops after 16 years, there has to be a new departure and change.

A traffic light coalition would be the cooperation of the winning parties.

Robert Habeck apparently wants to become Vice Chancellor.

Isn't that a breach of confidentiality?

For us, I can say that we want to start talking to each other first.

And very quickly.

And if it fits, we negotiate.

And when we manage to do something, then we can talk about the division of responsibilities.

Everything in order.

But FDP leader Christian Lindner still says he lacks the imagination for a good offer from Mr Scholz.

Is that just a word bell?

The offer that we make is Olaf Scholz.

The most popular candidate for chancellor who convinced a majority of the citizens.

This also applies in a direct comparison with Armin Laschet.

The second offer is a closed SPD that you can rely on.

It will be jerky sometimes, but we will not put each other down as we are currently experiencing in the Union.

The SPD chairman Norbert Walter-Borjans recently sounded very different.

He literally insulted the FDP.

We have jointly and unanimously agreed in the committees that we want to negotiate a traffic light coalition led by Olaf Scholz.

This has not been discussed critically in the beginning.

An alliance with the Union is not morally necessary, they said.

Is that appropriate to come up with morals now?

The voters have decided.

You voted out of the Union.

Also because the face of the party has changed massively, it is no longer the Merkel Union.

The bar of the Union points to the basement, which has crashed.

Also in the personal values ​​for Armin Laschet.

On the other hand, we as the SPD have had a successful race to catch up and are by far in first place.

Are you now the Merkel SPD?

We have always said that this election campaign is also about the Merkel voters.

To those who voted for the Union, not because of the CDU or CSU, but because of Angela Merkel as a person.

With his competence and experience, Olaf Scholz reached these voters, two million voters, that is a great success.

In 1969, Willy Brandt was behind the Union and still formed a coalition.

Doesn't the Union have the right now?

That was a historically different situation.

We have now seen the Union crash.

They were punished, also for shoddy mask deals, for their connections to lobbyists, for the insufficient demarcation to the right with a Hans-Georg Maaßen.

The SPD parliamentary group is now clearly more left-wing.

What dynamic does that mean?

Above all, the SPD parliamentary group is younger and more diverse.

I am very proud of that.

But the many new young MPs also know that their success is linked to the unity of the party.

Can Kevin Kühnert direct these young MPs as he wants?

Kevin Kühnert is deputy party chairman, he is part of the management team.

This is also evidence of our success.

Do you want to remain Secretary General?

I am very happy to have put the SPD in first place as the campaign leader.

My next task now is to organize and conduct the coalition negotiations

Will they be successful?

I'm very optimistic about that.