Similar to his predecessor Angela Merkel, the Chancellor is reluctant to answer many questions.
(Photo: Reuters)
Where’s Olaf Scholz? At the beginning of the grand coalition, it was a running gag among financial politicians because the then finance minister did not appear in the Bundestag for weeks.
Four years later it says again: Where is Scholz? However, this time the situation is much more serious. The SPD politician is Chancellor and the country is firmly in the grip of the pandemic. And Scholz somehow submerged.
He leaves the introduction of compulsory vaccinations, which he advocated, to parliament. In contrast to the Foreign Minister, the Chancellor, unlike the Foreign Minister, does not have a clear word to be heard in the conflict with Russia.
Scholz declares the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline linked to the conflict to be a concern of private investors. But if there is a project that is geopolitically controversial like no other, it is Nord Stream 2.
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Scholz is clearly taking Angela Merkel as an example again. The ex-chancellor was quite successful with her strategy of waiting, scanning and muddling through, after all, she stayed in office for 16 years.
Where are the promised “leadership qualities”
But there is a big difference: While Merkel never presented herself as a great maker, Scholz kept talking about the now urgently needed “leadership” during the election campaign, thereby serving a new longing for old leadership skills.
Now many are surprised that the Chancellor does not meet this expectation. Didn’t he once say himself that whoever orders a tour from him will get it too?
Here, however, there is a mistake: Scholz was never as strong in leadership as his own bon mot suggests, but has often shown himself to be weak in decision-making.
As finance minister, it took a long time before he countered the European policy attacks of French President Emmanuel Macron. He repeatedly put an undisputed corporate tax reform on the back burner. The hanging game over the appointment of the new health minister did not follow a political script, but was due to indecision. The list goes on.
Delay in making decisions is by no means just a bad quality. Politicians of this type do a lot less damage than Rambo guys – which is worth a lot more than many believe.
In fact, Scholz has not made any mistakes so far. And his government is only now really starting to work. But as Chancellor Scholz will not be able to afford too much waiting.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sees procrastination as a sign of weakness. The fight against corona and climate change cannot be postponed either.
If the traffic light is to become a model for success, Scholz has to stick more closely to his own message. Because the citizens have ordered leadership from him.
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