The two green ministers set the tone in the government.
(Photo: imago images/Chris Emil Janssen)
At the cabinet meeting in Meseberg, the Chancellor appeared in a way he had not shown for a long time: satisfied with himself and his government. At first glance, the polls agree with Olaf Scholz. According to the latest polls, the traffic light coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP would have a majority in the population a good five months after it was launched.
That is not a matter of course. Many had prepared for a bumpy start to the coalition. The voters were not prepared for a war of aggression by Russia on Ukraine, to which the federal government did not react confidently.
Self-doubt is not Olaf Scholz’s thing. Otherwise he could see at second glance that the stability of the coalition is not based on a chancellor bonus. His popularity ratings are in the basement.
His SPD and their ministers don’t help him much either. There are now about two Karl Lauterbachs. A whole crowd listened intently to Lauterbach from the past as he explained the right strategy against the virus on the talk shows. The Lauterbach of the present, as Minister of Health, has disappeared somewhere between isolation rules.
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Then there’s the Secretary of Defense. Christine Lambrecht thought that with the delivery of 5,000 helmets, Germany had already made a very strong contribution to supporting Ukraine.
>> Read also: The chancellor and the accusation of zigzagging
So red is having a hard time. The traffic light is green for this. There is almost a green wave in the country. With Robert Habeck, Annalena Baerbock and Cem Özdemir, the eco-party represents the three most popular politicians in the country.
Linder cannot finance the debt brake
Foreign Minister Baerbock is doing a really good job on the diplomatic stage. Economics Minister Habeck also delivers. In a very short time he has managed to reduce dependence on Russian oil and gas.
Habeck and Baerbock also succeed in making people think. That’s an achievement – at least a bigger one than shouting down a few pacifists at the May Day rally, as the chancellor did.
The situation for the FDP is not easy. It is a challenge for Finance Minister Christian Lindner to keep promises made during the campaign, such as the debt brake, and at the same time to finance the change in era proclaimed by the Chancellor. Quite apart from the financing of the digital infrastructure and the transformation of the industrialized country into a climate-neutral future.
All in all, a government can only be as good as the opposition allows it to be. Union faction leader Friedrich Merz scored a clear point victory against Scholz with his visit to Kyiv. But if the CDU and CSU want to reach the 30 percent mark again, they have to score with content.
More: CDU leader Merz surprisingly meets Selenski – “I’m really completely shaken”