Germany: Scholz urges cooperation ahead of snap elections

DW Chief Political Editor Michaela Küfner described the contentious atmosphere in Berlin on Wednesday, outlining the impasses that both Chancellor Olaf Scholz and former Finance Minister Christian Lindner described in their remarks.

Küfner said Scholz told parliamentarians that he had no choice but to fire Lindner last week, triggering the collapse of the ruling coalition. Scholz said Lindner had been trying to handcuff him into deciding between supporting Ukraine and making budget cuts at home or having no access to spending at all.

DW's Küfner reported that Lindner, too, addressed fellow lawmakers. He argued that Scholz had been the problem, offering his finance minister slim options as well. Lindner said that ultimately his choice was between upholding the constitution or not. 

Bavarian State Premier Markus Söder on Wednesday demanded expediency from Germany's outgoing SPD/Greens/FDP coalition, demanding, "The confidence question must be put immediately and not next year" and adding, "there must be no tactical delays."

Söder was in Berlin Wednesday to meet with Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader Friedrich Merz after the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government last week.

Söder, who leads the CDU's Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union (CSU), was himself in contention for the top spot on the CSU/CDU ballot early next year but bowed out in favor of Merz. 

Speaking to reporters, Söder said, "the chancellor question is decided. Friedrich Merz is doing it." 

Despite differences, Söder said he fully backed Merz, stressing that they were united by the shared aim of unseating the current government to "get Germany back on track."

Merz thanked Söder for his support and said his party had the "firm intention of taking over leadership responsibility in this country again." 

By stepping aside, Söder has left the path to the Chancellory open for Merz, an ambitious politician who served (in a strained relationship) under former Chancellor Angela Merkel before taking a job at the investment firm BlackRock and then returning to politics as an economic liberal with right-leaning tendencies on social issues and especially immigration.

Bavarian State Premier Markus Söder on Wednesday leveled harsh criticism at Olaf Scholz.

Söder, who leads the Christian Social Union (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of the larger center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said Scholz and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck of the Greens were to blame for the "disastrous situation" that Germany now finds itself in. 

"It takes courage to act as if you having nothing at all to do with the whole disaster. That is, ultimately, it was wholly failed finance policies that are the cause of all of Germany's budget problems."

Habeck, said Söder, had become the face of the crisis, and continued to lambaste the outgoing coalition, saying it had left Germany, "ungovernable."

Söder's appearance in Berlin marked the first time the Bavarian had ever spoken in the Bundestag and he pulled no punches delivering his message, saying the coalition had severely damaged Germany's reputation at home and abroad.

"Laughter in Moscow, wrinkled foreheads in Europe and a grin from the US. You will go down as the weakest government in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany."

FDP leader and former German Finance Minister Christian Lindneraccused Chancellor Olaf Scholz of failed economic policies. Commenting on his resignation from the Chancellor last week, Lindner said: "Sometimes a dismissal is also a liberation."

"Olaf Scholz's text says agenda, but there is no agenda in the text," he said in the Bundestag, referring to a Chancellor's paper on economic policy presented to the coalition committee last week.

"If you're just running around in circles, you can't lead a progressive coalition," Lindner said. 

However, Lindner still believes that Germany has what it takes to overcome the economic slump. "Germany still has the potential for a strong comeback. We have the know-how, the capital, the brains," he said.

To achieve this, an economic policy that has been holding Germany back for more than a decade must be changed. He added that Germany's values and interests could not be secured internationally "by Germany lecturing others with a raised index finger".

Lindner said: "It is not moral feelings of superiority in foreign policy that secure our influence. Our economic strength is also our geopolitical strength."

"Our country must move from left to center," Lindner said, adding that this election gives Germany such an opportunity.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock of the Green party spoke after Scholz's speech instead of Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who has been unable to attend the debate because of a problem with the Bundeswehr plane that was to bring him back from Lisbon.

In her speech, Baerbock emphasized Germany's strength and democratic principles despite insecurity in much of the rest of the world.

She stressed that she believed the German government under Scholz had taken responsibility for the problems the country does have, including in the field of energy supply, such as by weaning Germany off Russian gas amid Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

Baerbock also emphasized the need for a united Europe and strong Germany to face the challenges posed by the conflict in Ukraine and the climate crise.

CDU leader Friedrich Merz accused Scholz of having rejected all his party's proposals to come to grips with illegal immigration.

He said any new government had to regain control over migration with expulsions at the border.

Merz's Christian Democrats have been polling around 30% or more in the polls for a year now, while Scholz's Social Democrats, currently poll in third place with around 16%, behind the AfD, which is at around 19%.

While the main campaign issue will likely be the country's economy, immigration is another topic on the mind of German voters.

The leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Friedrich Merz, slammed Scholz after his speech, accusing him of being the person to split the country.

He called Scholz's alleged delay of the vote of confidence necessary for new elections "simply unacceptable" and a speech last week by the chancellor as "unworthy of the leader of Germany."

Merz insisted that the Bundestag was still capable of taking action, despite Scholz's no longer possessing a majority.

He said Germany needed a government that did not argue among itself along with a completely different political approach.

Merz also stressed that he would not work together with the far-right AfD party, no matter how strong it became at new elections.

The CDU has been leading nationwide surveys for some months now, with Merz seen widely as favorite to win the planned snap elections in February.

Scholz used his speech to call for more harmony in society, using the rifts made apparent by the recent US elections as a warning example.

He said he never wanted the degree of polarization in Germany to reach the same pitch.

Scholz said he had talked with US President-elect Donald Trump, stressing that US-Germany ties should remain good.

Scholz said he had a "good conversation" with Trump.  

"We should do everything we can in the coming decades, regardless of who is in power here or there, to ensure that this relationship continues to develop well," Scholz said.
 

Scholz said that although he believed Europe had a responsibility to ensure Ukraine has a good future as the country fights against a Russian invasion, any support from Germany should not come at the cost of German prosperity.

Support for Ukraine must not lead to cuts in pensions or care, he said.

At the same time, Scholz vowed that Ukraine would "not be left alone."

His remarks are possibly a response to calls by parties such as the AfD, the Left Party and the Alliance Sarah Wagenknecht to reduce or completely cut German military aid to Kyiv.

If the February 23 date is confirmed by German President Steinmeier, this is what must happen before the elections take place:

• ChancellorOlaf Scholz will put forward a motion in the lower house of parliament, or Bundestag, for a vote of confidence in his government
• The Bundestag would vote on the motion 48 hours later, with the expectation that the government would lose, seeing it no longer has a majority in parliament
• Scholz would propose to President Frank-Walter Steinmeier that the Bundestag be dissolved, in accordance with Article 68 of the Basic Law, or constitution
• Under the law, the president would then have 21 days to dissolve the parliament, though he is not obliged to do so under the constitution
• If he does, he will set a date for the election within the 60 days of dissolution, as stipulated by the Basic Law
• Normally, the president will follow the government's recommendation as to the date for the election — in this case, February 23
• National elections in Germany always take place on a Sunday

​​​​​​​

In his speech, Scholz said his decision to fire Finance Minister Christian Lindner, which triggered the collapse of the three-way coalition government "was right and it was unavoidable."

The decision led to the withdrawal of Lindner's Free Democrats (FDP) from the government, leaving it to govern with a parliamentary minority.

In his first address to the German parliament, the Bundestag, after his coalition collapsed last week, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged lawmakers to reach agreement on important legislation before early elections. 

He also confirmed that a vote of confidence in his minority government would be held on December 16, which would pave the way for snap elections set for February. 

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has urged German parliamentarians to help his now minority government to push through important legislation it has been planning.

"Let us work together before the elections for the good of the country," he said.

Scholz said his government's planned reforms to the tax system were among the things that should be passed before January.

Other legislation he mentioned included initiatives for economic growth, reforms to the tax system, a rise in the child allowance and protection for the Constitutional Court, particularly in the light of the rise of populism.

tj/wmr (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)