Soltz: Our first task is to fight the pandemic

Olaf Solz called on his party to make the fight against coronavirus the primary task of the new German government, as his party prepares to approve the coalition agreement that brings him one step closer to replacing Angela Merkel as chancellor. ,.

“It is clear that our first and foremost task is to protect the health of the people and to fight the pandemic,” said Soltz, who is due to be sworn in on Wednesday in a speech to SPD officials.

The Solz Social Democrats are expected to approve a 177-page coalition agreement at the party’s congress in Berlin outlining the government’s plan for the next four years.

The pro-business FDP is set to approve the deal at a meeting on Sunday, while the Greens are awaiting the results of their members’ vote, which ends on Monday, and are also likely to endorse the deal.

Merkel, 67, who is retiring from politics, remains in office as caretaker chancellor following the SPD’s landslide victory in the September national elections.

The complex negotiations that took place to forge the three-party alliance led to a prolonged transfer of power, which complicated the fight against the violent outbreak of Covid-19 infections.

Fighting the worst pandemic in Germany will be the first in the first weeks of Solz’s term, overshadowing the new government’s ambitious agenda of turning Europe’s largest economy into a climate leader and modernizing its digital infrastructure. .

In fact, it is not ruled out that there may be conflicts within the new coalition over funding and climate. FDP President Christian Lindner, who has called for fiscal discipline, will become finance minister, while the Greens, led by Robert Habek and Annalena Bayerbock, want the government to spend significant sums to achieve Germany’s ambitious climate goals.

Habek will become Soltz’s deputy chancellor and head a significant combined economy and climate ministry, while Bayerbok will become foreign minister. The SPD has said it will announce its choices for the cabinet on Monday, including who will take over the health ministry.

Despite almost two months of intensive negotiations behind closed doors, many of the proposals made in the coalition agreement remain unclear.

“There are differing views on what needs to be done to ensure progress for Germany,” Soltz told SPD representatives. “But doing nothing against climate change would be very ‘dangerous,'” he said.

The big work on climate protection policies, which the parties intend to complete only by the end of next year, is currently under way. Much of the country’s technological reform spending will depend on private investors, as the coalition has agreed to comply with constitutional lending restrictions.