USP International Relations professor Kai Enno Lehmann said in an interview with CNN this Wednesday (24), that the new prime minister of Germany, Olaf Scholz, will have as one of his main challenges to manage the tension between the different parties that make up the government.
“It will be a coalition that will require more internal administration, because they are very different parties, mainly the Liberal Party and the Green Party,” said the professor.
Three of the main political parties in Germany presented, this Wednesday (24), an agreement for a new coalition government. It has been sewn that Olaf Scholz, from the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), will take over. With that, Angela Merkel leaves the post after 16 years as chancellor.
The process follows a close election in September and two months of negotiations to form a new government.
The three coalition parties are not traditional partners. The FDP is more generally aligned with the centre-right, rather than the SPD and left-trending greens.
The fiscal issue is one of several differences between the parties, however, this issue tends to be delayed, according to Lehmann.
“They’ve already come up with a deal which is basically to put this problem off for later. In other words, they agreed that at the moment, with the new wave, the country will continue to spend whatever is necessary to get out of the pandemic”, he said.
Environmental issues
The German Green Party intends to abolish the use of fossil fuels as soon as possible, which could be another point of disagreement among the parties at the base of the government.
“The climate policy chapter, environment policy, clearly has a very strong influence on the Green Party. Two points I would highlight. Number one: the country’s commitment to no longer use coal to produce energy by 2030, and to force the production of electric cars by 2030 as well,” he concluded.
(*With information from Sheena McKenzie and Chris Stern, from CNN)
Reference: CNN Brasil
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