The Minister of Justice held out the prospect of loosening the corona virus in March.
(Photo: imago images/Future Image)
Berlin It has been almost two months since Marco Buschmann (FDP) was sworn in as the new Federal Minister of Justice. But at the beginning of January, according to ARD Deutschlandtrend, only a third of Germans knew who Buschmann actually was. And half of those who knew him said they were dissatisfied with his work.
Now Buschmann seems to be trying to get back on the federal political radar. He recently made a public statement about the corona restrictions and announced that the measures would be withdrawn for March, at least if “the number of cases starts falling again from mid-February”.
If the rate of infection decreases significantly, protective measures can be withdrawn, which is a matter of common sense and the rule of law, Buschmann explained in the “Daily Issues”.
Buschmann did not want to commit himself to whether this should be decided at the next federal-state meeting in mid-February. Instead, he called for politicians to “get out of the mode of improvisation” and “spontaneous midnight decisions”.
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With this, Buschmann is ahead of the official position of the Chancellery. Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit had already announced that no easing schedule should be drawn up for the next round of prime ministers with Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Party political positioning
For Buschmann and the FDP, the prospect of fewer corona measures and more freedom for the citizens is also important in terms of party politics. After all, the Liberals, while still in opposition, were critical of the restrictions.
In the government, on the other hand, the FDP has to support the measures itself – and is divided, for example, on the subject of compulsory vaccination. An opening in March, as Buschmann promised, would also take the explosiveness out of the decision on general vaccination, which is expected to be made at the end of March.
>> Read more here on the political balancing act of the FDP in the corona debate
Buschmann had also recently positioned himself publicly on the question of stronger regulation of the Telegram news service. He asked Telegram to comply with the applicable laws, to name a contact person in Germany and to set up a simple reporting channel for criminal content. If service providers violate German regulations, the German authorities would have to take action.
In December, however, Buschmann had still dismissed the warnings of the Saxon Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU). When Kretschmer publicly called on the Minister of Justice to take legal action against right-wing extremist agitation and hatred on Telegram, Buschmann showed himself unreasonable on ZDF – other things are currently “more important”, said Buschmann.
Buschmann’s blocking of the subject and the harsh form of the reply brought a lot of public criticism. Not a good start for the former parliamentary director of the FDP in his new office as a member of the federal cabinet.
More: The fire accelerator: Why Telegram attracts corona extremists