Monday: The majority wants new elections, the traffic light coalition doesn’t care
New elections have minimal prospects in Germany. It’s no use that the population increasingly advocates for a parliamentary re-election. Successive ARD, the German Press Agency, and “Bild” commissioned surveys to explore the voters’ opinions.
At the beginning of November, 41 percent of citizens favored a new election before the end of the legislative period. By December 7, 55 percent were in favor. Last week, the Insa Institute reported a majority of 59 percent.
CSU leader Markus Söder had already proposed an election date that would be convenient for the citizens. On Sunday, June 9th, we are already called upon to elect the European Parliament anew. A double election could be well organized, even in the capital Berlin, which still needs to practice.
All these facts are well known to the traffic light coalition, but they don’t care about the will of the people. Despite growing dissatisfaction, the Three from the Quarrelsome Point want to continue to patronize the citizens.
Scholz lacks the courage like his former chief Gerhard Schröder
Chancellor Olaf Scholz is the main obstacle. He lacks the courage like his former chief Gerhard Schröder.
As chancellor in 2005, Schröder asked the Bundestag for trust, hoping for mistrust. The calculation worked. The majority of the members, including Olaf Scholz, voted against. Three weeks later, President Köhler dissolved the Bundestag and called for new elections. Schröder lost, and Angela Merkel became chancellor.
Scholz has much less hope than Schröder of winning a new election. At most, he could end up as a minister in a cabinet led by Friedrich Merz. He’d rather muddle through as an unpopular chancellor. The risk of leading his SPD into a deep abyss of only 14 percent must seem too high for him.
His yellow and green partners won’t encourage Scholz to provoke new elections. Both of them are threatened with the worst thing that can happen in politics: loss of importance. They won’t be needed in a probable grand coalition. Habeck and Co. will lose all positions, status symbols, and influence. For the FDP, the election campaign could once again become a struggle for existence. The disappointed voter, who is not allowed to vote, is disillusioned.
There could be frustration reactions in the European elections.
The domestic frustration could influence voting behavior more than the possibility of shifting weights in the European Parliament.
Tuesday: Habeck’s e-car surprise and the principle of the market economy
Among the consequential annoyances of the traffic light peace is the initially disguised decision by Habeck to no longer subsidize the purchase of electric cars practically over the weekend. This surprise disrupts the plans of car buyers and the calculations of manufacturers.
These measures should annoy supporters of the market economy less.
The state has intervened in the car business with tax money, wanting to damage combustion engines and favor electric cars. Without the prospect of tax incentives, some car buyers will rethink. They will weigh the advantages and disadvantages of an electric car differently. Without subsidies, they have to reassess the risks. Subjective impression is also part of market observation.
In Upper Bavaria, the winter images included not only the massive snow masses, which have affected life. Some also remember the electric cars that were stranded by the roadside with no juice.
FOCUS founding editor-in-chief Helmut Markwort was a Free Democratic Party (FDP) member of the Bavarian State Parliament from 2018 to 2023.
