Friedrich Merz urgently has to change his tone

You would have to start this text with a joke, the overall location would not be so serious. “As long as you want to pack your legs under my cabinet table, I expect that …”. So roughly Friedrich Merz’s pitch can be summarized in the days after his tremor election victory. He has to forge an alliance.

That’s how it goes wrong, Mr. Merz!

For example, Merz wrote a letter to Olaf Scholz. He called it “Memorandum of Understanding”, but he reads like a command from the top: his expectation is, Merz wrote “that we are really working hand in hand from now on and (…) no more decisions are made (…) without our participation”. On Tuesday, the 69-year-old then said about the upcoming explorations with the SPD: “I assume that the SPD understands that changes in migration policy have to be made.”

Now one may agree with the CDU man. Or believe that Friedrich Merz really no longer has to become a top diplomat in this life. But if you want to negotiate a coalition, you should do more than publicly tip your expectations such as natural laws from your feet to the only possible partner. Especially if he needs their feet so urgently to take a seat at the cabinet table.

Instead, the CDU leader demands and conducts in a tone these days as if his party had won an absolute majority. Or as he wise the dear grandchildren to get the trash out. I expect that … well, no contradiction!

Internally, Merz has long since sweared by the alliance with the Social Democrats. You have to refrain from all provocations now, said the candidate for Chancellor the day after the CDU federal board election. The Union is publicly publicly adhering to it.

Suddenly a small request from the CDU parliamentary group for the intimidation of non-governmental organizations appears two days before choice. The Social Democrats react expected to be horrified. And at the same time Friedrich Merz continues what he did in the election campaign on a large scale: stir up expectations.

The 69-year-old has maneuvered himself in dangerous waters. In migration policy, he has not announced any compromises and exercising his directive. And what did he not promise any more: cannabis legalization? Away! New citizenship law? Away! Citizens’ allowance? Away! Heating Act? Especially away!

With 28.5 percent of the vote in your luggage you can want all of this. However, it is not possible to implement as much of it as possible with the fueling of expectations, but to enter into clever compromises. That is the nature of Federal Republican Parliamentarianism. Merz ‘party friend Hendrik Wüst brought this to the formula on Tuesday: “Bridges will now have to be built.”

As a man from the economy, Merz should be familiar with the Harvard negotiation model. Roughly speaking: conversations are successful when both sides – at least felt – win. The inventor of this concept, the economist Roger Fisher, suggested a common brainstorms for solution options during the disarmament interviews between US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. It succeeded.

Friedrich Merz, on the other hand, is apparently still with the demolition bulb on tour. He is under observation at the Social Democrats anyway. Merz must therefore switch as soon as possible. On bridge construction. On Win-Win instead of anger. Merz is by no means chancellor. Even if some believes in the Union that the Social Democrats are already weak in the prospect of their service limousines. If you don’t wrong.

Of course, from a conservative point of view, a goal must be the limitation of migration, as well as a finished coalition agreement and the space at the cabinet table. Only: that is not possible. Having expectations is the privilege of the voter. Friedrich Merz has received an order: to form a stable government. He shouldn’t screw it up.