The cheers came a little early.

In the market hall in Wismar, the state SPD had invited to a special party conference to vote on the new coalition agreement with the Left Party for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Saturday morning, gray sky, sandwiches at the buffet.

The state chairman and prime minister Manuela Schwesig let herself be celebrated and then raved about the “wonderful election campaign” that should be kept in one's heart.

Because responsibility means that there will also be difficult days.

Matthias Wyssuwa

Political correspondent for Northern Germany and Scandinavia based in Hamburg.

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Delegates then stepped onto the stage and picked up the microphone, praised the “very nice” or “wonderfully worded” coalition agreement, insulted the previous coalition partner from the CDU (“dusslig”, “morally bankrupt”, “black heavy block on the leg ") Or Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with Schwesig at the top, praised as the" new heart of social democracy ".

Then everyone should lift their ballot in the air if they approved the coalition agreement, and then those who are against it, and then the unanimous approval was immediately noted and the applause broke out.

Only one abstention from the Left Party

Alone, a white-haired comrade had held up his ballot when he answered “No” and had been overlooked.

He then marched off to the conference presidium, which had to announce in the general cheerfulness that there had been a vote against.

A bit of grumbling in the hall.

And then the party continued and the deep red cake was cut.

After all, there is no reason for the Social Democrats in the Northeast to let their mood be dampened by a no vote.

Only seven weeks after the party triumphed in the state elections at the end of September with 39.6 percent, the new red-red alliance was negotiated and the coalition agreement was agreed and signed.

The Left Party even managed to agree with only one abstention at its special party conference on Saturday.

This Monday, Manuela Schwesig will be re-elected Prime Minister in Schwerin Castle, and the red-red coalition will have 43 of the 79 seats in the state parliament.

It was weeks of intoxication with harmony that, after having won the first election, now bring Schwesig to the top of their first self-formed coalition.

The CDU, with which the SPD had ruled since 2006, and which fell to 13.3 percent in the election, let Schwesig roll off.

That was not a real surprise, if only because sensitivities between the parties had long been evident and the CDU itself still does not know who should actually be in charge of it in the future.

Instead, Schwesig chose the Left as a partner, which, with its top candidate Simone Oldenburg, fell to 9.9 percent after many years in the opposition.

The party seemed all the more grateful to finally be able to govern again.

At least Schwesig and Oldenburg always presented their negotiating successes with such emphasis that the Schweriner Volkszeitung saw a "red and red storm of love" gathering.