In the super election year of 2024, the chambers of commerce are worried about a rise in “extreme forces” and the state of the regional economy. In a letter to the Chancellor, they do not skimp on criticism.
In an open letter to Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), the East German Chambers of Industry and Commerce criticized the actions of the federal government.
The regional economy is “in a worsening permanent crisis mode,” says the letter, which was signed by the presidents of several chambers from Thuringia, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. They criticize the lack of “inclusion of various interests in the political process”. “Instead, a culture of “decision-making without involvement” and a blatant difference between the federal government’s words and actions are spreading,” the letter said.
“Germany’s international competitiveness is eroding”
As an example, the chambers cite the scandal surrounding the federal budget at the end of last year. “Many sources of fire that already existed before can turn into a wildfire as a result of the federal government’s handling of the Karlsruhe ruling,” write the IHK presidents.
They also complain about the lack of reduction in bureaucracy and “incentives for not working”. “All of this leads to Germany’s international competitiveness being eroded.”
The federal government presents a desolate public image. The “heated mood throughout the country” is homemade. This is “grist to the mill of extreme forces,” write the IHK representatives with a view to the upcoming state elections in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg this year. “If nothing fundamentally changes in your actions and demeanor, we fear that one East German federal state after the next will degenerate into a place of desire for right-wing extremists and an economic transit country,” the authors write. Fact-oriented and coordinated work is the best remedy against right-wing populism, the chambers tell Chancellor Scholz in the letter.
Source: Stern
