How the German government’s coalition fell apart – DW – 11/06/2024

“Too often, necessary compromises fail due to publicly staged disputes and loud ideological demands. Often, Federal Minister Lindner has blocked laws. At times he has engaged in petty partisan tactics, at times he has violated my trust Broke.” Olaf Scholz’s deep frustration became clear when he officially announced the dismissal of Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner at 9:15 pm, saying, “As Federal Chancellor, I cannot tolerate this.”

Over the past three years, during which the SPD, the Greens and the FDP have governed, Scholz has repeatedly suggested how “a coalition of three different parties can reach good agreements,” he said, adding that Has often been difficult and “sometimes”. This has taken me to the limits of my political commitment.”

He failed mainly because of money

A day came when the first tripartite alliance in German history faltered so much that it could no longer remain stable.

On November 15, 2023, the German Constitutional Court declared the budget policy of the federal government headed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz partly unconstitutional. This was the day when the coalition of Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and Liberals (FDP) lost the financial basis of its management.

In particular, the Supreme Court rejected the use of approximately 60,000 million euros. During the pandemic, the Bundestag approved borrowing to deal with the effects of COVID, but not all the money was spent. The government then decided to allocate the remaining 60 billion to finance its climate and energy policy. But that change in purpose turned out to be unconstitutional.

This special fund, which was not part of the federal budget, made it possible to overcome deep differences between the Liberals, who had promised during the campaign to clean up the budget, and the Social Democrats and Greens, who needed the money. Social policy and climate protection. It was the financial basis of the coalition, as it allowed budget savings and, at the same time, financed social and climate projects.

Goals and Challenges

The goals were ambitious: the aim was to make Germany a leader in environmental protection and plans were made to build 400,000 homes. He wanted to modernize the social state, raise the minimum wage and increase spending on research and development, among other things.

At first, everything seemed to work well. There was no dearth of good intentions. But the promise of discussing the differences confidentially and presenting the solution arrived at to the public could not last even a hundred days. However, it must be acknowledged that never before has any government coalition faced such compelling challenges: the pandemic reemerged, Russia invaded Ukraine, gas and oil supplies were disrupted, and Germany plunged into an energy crisis. .

The tone among government partners became more somber, rivalries became visible, and the impact of the dispute increasingly impacted the work of the government. Citizens punished him with a decline in approval. The image loss was huge. The coalition became the most unpopular government in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany.

The issue of money dominated the conflicts. Given the long list of needs arising from the war in Ukraine, such as financial and military support for Kiev, the reception of refugees and the urgency of re-equipping German forces, the SPD and the Greens were reluctant to maintain the brakes on the new loan. Army. But the Liberals did not give up and maintained their savings demands.

Defeat in regional elections

Negotiations on the 2025 budget ended in a draft sent to the Bundestag with a gap of close to 12 billion euros, which was not covered.

In parallel, regional elections in East Germany were held in September 2024. At the federal level the ruling parties have never performed as poorly as the SPD, the Greens and the FDP in Thuringia and Saxony. Only in Brandenburg did the SPD manage to recover. The liberals were crushed in those three federal states.

After these elections, each party in the coalition tried to gain profile. It was no longer possible to achieve the necessary agreements.

(ers/gg)