“Maybrit Illner”: Olaf Scholz wants “march forward together”

“Germany in crisis – what can Olaf Scholz still achieve?”was the topic on ZDF. The main guest was none other than the Chancellor himself. He acknowledged difficulties at the traffic lights, but called on the coalition partners to continue working until the end of the electoral term.

Anyone who has been given a mandate to govern by the citizens must fulfill their tasks, said the SPD politician in the ZDF broadcast “Maybrit Illner”. That is a duty. “And no one should just jump into the bushes. That’s definitely not my style.”

After the 2017 federal election, the CDU/CSU, FDP and Greens failed to form a Jamaica coalition. Four years later, the SPD, Greens and FDP managed to form a government, said Scholz. “But it is also correspondingly difficult.” He doesn’t want to beat around it: “From my point of view, it is sometimes very difficult to get through all the disputes and do everything to ensure that good results come out of them.”

Olaf Scholz “Maybrit Illner”: “It’s not good at all that things are going this way”

But governments in other countries also have difficulty communicating in view of the major challenges, said Scholz. A look at the current election results abroad makes it seem very unlikely that there will be governments in the future with parties that do not have very many different views. “And once we have received the mandate from the voters, we have to try to do that well somehow.”

In recent months there has been repeated speculation about an early end to the coalition due to the many disputes between the traffic light parties. The acid test now is whether the SPD, Greens and FDP can agree on the 2025 federal budget in the coming weeks despite the difficult financial situation.

Scholz said about the disputes: “It’s not good at all that things are going this way.” Like many citizens, he is annoyed that “that it takes so long, that so many people still leave side comments, that in between you can see how everyone explains their different opinions in detail”.

A current controversial topic is the pension package that has already been discussed by the Bundestag in its first reading. It was also presented by Finance Minister and FDP leader Christian Lindner. Nevertheless, the FDP parliamentary group is now demanding improvements. Scholz made it clear on ZDF: “The federal government has submitted the legislative proposal to the German Bundestag, which will also be passed this year.” The project is in the coalition agreement.

Scholz wants “confidential discussion” to the economy

In the struggle to stimulate the German economy, Scholz wants to work with unions and business associations next week “confidential discussion” lead and discuss openly. At the planned industrial summit, measures should be explored “so that we can march forward together”.

“But my goal is not to do it in such a way that I basically go there and say, I want to do that, do you all agree?”. He wants to find measures where “everyone says at the same time that these are the right ones” and have the goal “that this will be a confidential opinion-forming process where everyone can agree as much as possible”.

The German economy is in the doldrums. The economy is weakening, among other things, because companies and private individuals are holding back on investments and spending in view of the geopolitical situation. The federal government expects the German economy to shrink slightly again this year. It would be the second year of recession in a row.

Every Thursday for almost exactly 25 years, people from politics and society discuss the topic of the week.

The successful format started on October 14, 1999, then under the broadcast title “Berlin center”. The show has borne the presenter’s name for more than 17 years. Your talk show is one of the most successful on German television.