Olaf Scholz and the Pact for Germany - just advertising?

2023-09-08 10:15:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Chancellor Olaf Scholz calls for an increased national effort to break out of the state of stagnation. He called it the Pact for Germany. Feedback is reserved.

Developments in Germany are not so optimistic. The country is losing economic power. The industry suffers from high energy prices and there is a lot of red tape. The infrastructure has problems, digitization is moving at a snail's pace. Inflation is high, citizens keep their hands tight. The "Economist" newspaper, in a recent article, even raised the question of whether Germany is "the sick man of Europe" again.

The chancellor asks for patience

This cannot stay like this. Chancellor Scholz's appearance in the budget debate in the Bundestag was different from the statements of August, where Scholz said that there is talk of difficulties that have nothing to do with Germany's economic power. With his face hurt from running on Wednesday, he spoke in the Bundestag about the citizens, who are tired of the state of stagnation. The chancellor called for an "increased national effort" to get the country moving. He announced the Pact for Germany. Together we must "shake off bureaucracy, fear of risk and timidity" because it "paralyzes our economy and brings frustration to people at home who just want Germany to work."

Let's not fight anymore, a signal to the government

"Cooperation instead of conflict, this is the need of the hour," Scholz said in the Bundestag. You can understand this as a request to internal queues. In the German government, contradictions of party politics collide between Te Gjebërve and the FDP, quarrels that were frequent in the past months and created the image of a divided coalition, and the chancellor was brought out weak and incapable of leadership.

More and more citizens are dissatisfied with the government. In the current ARD trend survey, only 19% of citizens rated the government's work positively. The coalition would no longer have a majority if there were elections now.

Criticism from the opposition

CDU and CSU, which make up the largest opposition parliamentary group in the Bundestag, draw the conclusion that the chancellor is not implementing his projects with the power of the coalition and with the pact for Germany he is looking for new majorities. "If your coalition largely collapses, of course we are available," quipped Christian Social politician, CSU, Alexander Dobrindt in the Bundestag.

The prime minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst, reacted angrily to Scholz's proposal. "The Pact for Germany is just an advertisement" intended to attract attention, the CDU prime minister said.

The economy is waiting for the government to move. "With the announcement of the pact for Germany, the German government is finally waking up," said Rainer Dulger, president of the Federal Association of German Employers, BDA in an interview. For a long time, the government has been sleepy in terms of digitalization and has been fixated on bureaucracy hindering the economy and society. This needs to change soon. Among the prime ministers of the states governed by the Social Democrats, Scholz has received widespread support. "We are very complicated in Germany, we are very slow, and ultimately very expensive. We need to simplify and become faster."/ DW