Germany's traffic light coalition in crisis
A policy paper by German Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) that was leaked on Friday has triggered a major dispute among the three members of Germany's traffic light coalition government in Berlin. The SPD and the Greens have harshly criticised the economically liberal proposals set out in the paper, which include cutting business taxes and postponing climate protection targets. Commentators are not alone in wondering whether this is the beginning of the end for Germany's government.
Patience wearing thin
Seznam Zprávy comments on the widening rift between the coalition partners in Berlin:
“The public has already become accustomed to the fact that conflicts within the governing coalition last a long time and rarely lead to a constructive conclusion. However, patience is wearing thin as the decline of Germany's best-known car brand shows that the situation is really serious and calls for a reaction. ... It is to be expected that the voices calling for a quick end to the Scholz government will only grow louder if there is no sign of positive economic figures or the coalition leaders fail to agree on a credible plan for the economy.”
No laughing matter
Kurier hopes that Germany will recover:
“In recent years, it was often we Austrians who provoked laughs in Germany with our political antics. Recently, however, the government in Berlin has outshone us on this score. ... But none of this is a laughing matter. The German economy is tottering in a way it hasn't done since the turn of the millennium, from January on the political wrecking ball that is Donald Trump may be back in the White House, to say nothing of the autocrats in Moscow and Beijing. Europe needs a strong Germany more than ever now.”
Liberals aiming to make waves
The FDP is reacting to its disastrous election results, NRC surmises:
“Lindner has concluded that the government's current course and the FDP's role in it are not doing the party any good. That's why he wants to embark on a radically different course from Scholz's and is clinging to two classic (or, in the eyes of critics, old-fashioned) FDP issues: the debt brake and tax cuts. But apparently Lindner doesn't think even leaving the government coalition is likely to boost his party's approval ratings. So he prefers to make life so difficult for his coalition partners that Scholz will be forced to take the initiative and give him and his FDP colleagues the boot.”