Handelsblatt: Tensions within the governing coalition

The climate inside the three-party government in Germany is tense, according to a publication by Handelsblatt.

Christian Lindner (FDP) and Robert Habeck (Greens) are standing at the Federal Treasury Department two meters from each other on Friday afternoon. The devastation on compulsory vaccination was almost exactly 24 hours ago at this point, and now the week should at least end well.

The two praise each other for the new shield of German companies suffering from the effects of the war in Ukraine. “The Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology has devised a very clever mechanism,” says Lindner. “Thank you very much,” says Habeck.

The two ministers then sought to bridge differences over energy policy. “All right, chico,” Hubeck assured, “all right, then.

But in reality, the spirits are on in the traffic light coalition right now. And not just in energy policy. Following the failure of compulsory vaccination, the question arises as to what this political blow will mean for future cooperation within the traffic light coalition.

The compulsory vaccination fiasco has upset many members of the CDU / CSU coalition. While most SPD and Green MPs supported the plan for compulsory vaccination from the age of 60, 79 FDP MPs rejected it, while only five were in favor. When did this happen again, that a coalition partner was so united against a wish of the chancellor?

“The FDP must decide: Opposition or government”

The SPD and the Greens have been left speechless by this. Apparently, many firmly assumed that at the end of the months-long opinion process, at least a large part of the FDP would be behind a compromise on compulsory vaccination. “The FDP needs to consider whether it is still in opposition or already in government,” said the leadership of the SPD parliamentary group.

The deputy head of the SPD, Anke Rehlinger, was also served. “The failure of the compulsory vaccination is not particularly convenient for any party,” he told Handelsblatt. Mandatory vaccination would be a great opportunity to be in front of the wave for once, since so far we have always been behind it. “Now we have to prepare for new restrictions in the autumn, at worst.”

The Greens have been similarly annoyed for weeks. There is simply no Corona policy to be made with the FDP, says one MP. Harsh criticism, on the other hand, offends the Liberals. There was a consensus at the traffic light that all MPs vote without party discipline – then no one should complain about it in retrospect. Many in the FDP suspect that the Greens are angry because the SPD and the Liberals have often been on the same page recently, while the Greens have been slow to join, for example, the special fund for the Bundeswehr.

The FDP and the Greens are losing the leadership of the chancellor

The Greens, on the other hand, also have their problems with the SPD. Chancellor Schultz’s hesitant policy on the war in Ukraine is causing more and more Greens to resent it. “It’s time for Germany to take the lead,” said Anton Hofreiter, the former head of the parliamentary group, referring to the situation in Ukraine.

Hofreiter refers to the SPD’s hesitant stance on the issue of the energy embargo against Russia. But the sensitive issue of arms deliveries could also cause many problems for the coalition.

Here Habeck and Lindner stand side by side. Both are calling for more supplies to be delivered to Ukraine, including heavy equipment such as tanks. But Scholz and SPD Secretary of Defense Christine Lambrecht are braking. They emphasize accounting and defense problems and fear that by exporting heavy military equipment, Germany itself would become part of the war. But every day there are new frightening images from Ukraine, this defensive stance is likely to be challenged more strongly in Abel.

Merz makes life difficult for the three-party government

Friedrich Merz (CDU), head of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group, is making traffic lights difficult. Mertz is currently limiting the CDU / CSU to the level of the official opposition. Follow this course in the case of compulsory vaccination. And so it will continue.

When Habeck and Lindner unveiled the new umbrella for the economy, Merz and Alexander Dobrindt, leaders of the CSU parliamentary group, announced at the federal press conference that the CDU / CSU would file a constitutional appeal against the CDU / CSU supplementary budget. . With this, the coalition had transferred 60 billion euros from unused Corona credits to the Energy and Climate Fund.

Merz talked about bypassing the debt brake. The Federal Constitutional Court is expected to rule on the lawsuit before the end of the year. If Merz succeeds, he will shake the entire fiscal policy of the traffic light party.

Even more explosive is the controversy over the Bundeswehr’s 100 billion-euro rearmament, the plan announced by Soltz as a turning point. A two-thirds majority is required for the planned special fund, which is why the traffic light again depends on the votes of the CDU / CSU. Mertz wants to support the special fund, but has announced that he will allow as many CDU / CSU MPs in the Bundestag as needed for a two-thirds majority, only if the traffic lights vote unanimously 100% in favor of rearmament.

Asked recently if he wanted the special fund to fail because of two Greens who might not have supported it, Merz replied: “Then it will not fail because of us, then it will fail because of the two Greens.” If Merz follows the hard line, the traffic light party faces a difficult vote.

Falling polls and fears of state elections
Polls also show that the coalition does not appear to be doing well. FDP leader Lindner in particular has plummeted in popularity with Scholz. After the FDP failed to enter parliament in Saarland, the Liberals are now looking anxiously at Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia, where state elections will be held in May.

NRW elections are considered crucial. If the FDP is ousted by the government there, it will further increase the nervousness, the Greens and the SPD fear. “If Lindner thinks he can pursue a hard-line FDP policy without counting on coalition partners, it will make our lives even more difficult,” said a leading SPD politician.

The parties in government have a lot to say these days. After Friday’s press conference, Lindner and Habeck stood together briefly in the Treasury foyer. They had “confidential matters to discuss with each other,” Habeck said. The economy minister then left in his car, while Lindner hurried up the stairs to his office waving a briefcase.