German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the news to his coalition partners.Image: trapezoid
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed hope that the ailing traffic light alliance could continue its work. The Berlin Social Democratic politician, when asked by reporters during a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, said the government had been elected, was in place and would carry out its mandate.
Scholz had previously met with Economy Minister Robert Habeck (Green Party) and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) at the Chancellery. The dialogue set off a series of high-level talks that will clarify whether and how the embattled alliance can find common ground again on economic and financial policy in the coming days. SPD leader Lars Klingber talks about “decision week”.
Scholz calls on the league to get serious about its work
Scholz said:
“I am the chancellor. This is about the challenges we face in overcoming difficult times. This is about the economy and jobs. This is pragmatism not ideology.”
He said of the tasks that need to be tackled, “To do that, you have to work hard. That's what I expect from everyone.”
Greens: We don't want to take a break – 'just do our job'
Greens leader Omid Nouripour also called on traffic light partners to persevere. «We don’t want to rest. We also assume that others will be faithful to the contract and that we will do the job we are here to do together,” he said in Berlin. “This is the worst possible moment for a government to fail,” Habeck said. ” During a visit to Ukraine, Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock (Green Party) appealed to the Alliance, in the spirit of international responsibility, “Maybe we should all unite and do our jobs.” ”
Christian Lindner, Robert Habeck and Olaf Scholz no longer have much to say to each other.Image: trapezoid
Bijan Djir-Sarai, general secretary of the Liberal Democratic Party, made it clear after a meeting of the party's Supreme Council that the election results will be submitted to the Joint Committee of the Traffic Light Alliance on Wednesday evening.
Members of the Traffic Light Alliance held multiple rounds of discussions
The alliance initially tried to resolve its differences through small rounds of talks. A three-round bout between Scholz, Lindner and Habeck is also scheduled for Tuesday, according to government sources. On Wednesday, a larger group will meet with the joint committee, which also includes party and parliamentary group leaders from the SPD, Greens and FDP.
At the heart of the dispute between government partners is economic policy and the federal budget for the coming year. If the Social Democrats, Greens and Free Democrats cannot agree on a common plan, the three-year coalition may end prematurely and the country will face an early federal election.
Images of disunity: separate summits and papers
The traffic light debate over the right steps to take in response to the economic downturn and government spending priorities came to a head over the weekend. In a policy paper, Lindner called for a recalibration of economic and financial policies. Previously, when business representatives were invited to hold separate summits with Finance Minister Scholz and the Liberal Democratic Party and Lindner, the coalition partners showed a scene of disunity, and Economy Minister Habeck also proposed his own improvements in an impulsive document suggestions for this situation.
A series of separate summits with business representatives continues on Monday. After speaking with Scholz and Habeck, Lindner drove to the Bundestag to attend a meeting of the FDP with about 20 business association representatives. “Results have to come out now,” Christian Duer, leader of the FDP parliamentary group, said afterwards. Asked how important the joint committee was, he said: “I'm not focused on deadlines, I'm focused on results.”
Opposition sees final traffic light
The opposition's reaction to the coalition situation was unanimous: “The traffic lights must now take on national political responsibility to end this matter,” CDU Secretary General Carsten Linnemann said after a CDU High Council meeting in Berlin. Germany needs to reboot. New elections must be held as soon as possible. CSU Secretary General Martin Huber called on Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to intervene: “The Federal President should now make it clear to the debaters that it is time for new elections.”
The Secretary-General of the CSU issued an appeal to German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.Image source: IMAGO / dts news agency
Alternative for Germany leader Alice Weidel wrote BSW founder Sahra Wagenknecht told Die Welt: “The week of the decision should become a traffic light divorce week. A fourth traffic light year would mean irreversible economic damage of destruction and destroying the wealth of millions of people, left-wing co-chairman Ines Schwertner criticized Scholz, who now quoted Finance Minister Lindner, for “making this possible.” Some form of cooperation in the alliance becomes possible”, with words of caution. (HKL/SDA/DPA)
You may also be interested in:
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed hope that the ailing traffic light alliance could continue its work. The Berlin Social Democratic politician, when asked by reporters during a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, said the government had been elected, was in place and would carry out its mandate.
