Noisy about Lindner’s counter-summit: save yourself if you can

Opinion

Relationships can often still be saved as long as there are arguments. If there’s a bang every now and then, you get along afterwards. It becomes extremely dangerous when the great silence sets in, when people simply no longer talk to each other, but only about each other. The traffic light coalition has apparently achieved this.

The Federal Minister of Finance looked tired on Thursday evening, tired and exhausted. Christian Lindner explained on ZDF that he was not previously informed about the Social Democratic Chancellor’s industrial summit or the Green Economics Minister’s industrial policy initiative.

Lindner, Scholz, Habeck: Nobody informs the other

The SPD, in turn, had not known anything about Habeck’s initiative a few days earlier, and the Greens had not been invited to his summit by Chancellor Scholz. People now treat each other at least equally badly in this toxic love triangle.

On Friday morning, Lindner himself dared to attack: He also invited people to a meeting with the industry, almost at the same time as the Federal Chancellor. It’s an affront. And taken together, the concentrated summitry leaves one thing above all: the impression of lack of seriousness.

Instead of trying to find a common solution, Scholz, Lindner and Habeck are pushing ahead with initiatives that are suitable for election campaigns. On Thursday, Lindner himself blamed precisely this type of no-longer-governance for the uncertainty that prevails among the economy and consumers. Only to get involved again a few hours later.

The phase of strength training

We have to say this clearly: at a time of recession, of all times, Germany has a government that is unable to act on key issues. A double-digit billion sum is missing from the budget, the economy is shrinking, and industrial companies are threatening to relocate. The three partners have long since lacked the strength for major reforms and are also running out of time. That’s why they’re entering a new phase: that of power production.

In confidential discussions, there has long been speculation as to who will collapse the coalition first. Some politicians now estimate the probability of this happening before Christmas at 90 percent. The fact is: the coalition partners no longer dare to cross paths, not even a millimeter. Everyone is fighting against everyone and, above all, not to be chosen by the voters as the full-time bogeyman for the misery. Save yourself whoever can.

Particularly in the Chancellery, the argument is that Germany needs stability in uncertain times. That’s why the traffic lights have to hold on, even in future governments things won’t get much easier together. But if what government member Christian Lindner said is even partially true, namely that the government is partly responsible for a large part of the insecurity in the country, then this argument is in vain.

The fear of running out of traffic lights

Of course, replacing an unstable, weak and unpopular government can ultimately lead to greater stability. A more honest argument from the remaining traffic light supporters would probably be their own concern for voters: All three parties would have to expect very significant losses in the next election – as of now – and the FDP could destroy it. This means that the desire for the next round of voting is limited.

You have to be careful with historical comparisons. And yet Christian Lindner’s counter-summit is reminiscent of the Liberals’ divorce paper from 1982. At that time, the social-liberal coalition collapsed over a letter from the FDP with economic policy proposals. It may be that Lindner’s snub is intended to provoke a Social Democratic chancellor into kicking out the FDP for the second time in the history of the Federal Republic.

Even for that, the traffic light lacks the courage

But people have often suspected that in the course of this coalition, that they – but really! – I’m about to go out; Then the three parties continued to torment each other, found pseudo solutions (as with the budget), postponed conflicts (as with economic policy), and found other outlets (resignations). This government lacks courage and strength, even for its own end, for a dignified exit. Maybe he’ll stumble too.