/ world today news/ The head of the richest province in Germany, the chairman of the government of Bavaria, Markus Söder, announced a “severe state crisis”, for which he blamed Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Earlier, a huge hole appeared in the German budget and the Bundeswehr lost its defense capability. Experts stress that next year threatens to be the last for the chancellor.
Bavaria’s Prime Minister and CSU chairman Markus Söder spoke about the “severe state crisis” in Germany in an interview with Bayerische Rundfunk radio station. At the same time, he emphasized that the current government has experienced its own.
According to Söder, the current governing coalition should be in opposition. It has neither a plan nor a “head” to solve the problems facing Germany. The country experienced not just a “budgetary emergency” but an “emergency” for the authorities.
Another reason for criticism of Olaf Scholz’s government was the redistribution of spending feathers. Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court found the transfer of 60 billion euros from the 2021 extra budget to fight the coronavirus to the fund for environmental and climate projects unacceptable. The opposition bloc CDU-CSU also believes that the cabinet cannot change the already established categories of payments. In this regard, the German Ministry of Finance had to freeze almost all funds from this year’s budget.
The attack on the chancellor was also supported by another prominent figure in the CDU-CSU bloc, the faction’s deputy chairman in the Bundestag, Johann Wadeful. In an interview with the DPA agency, he said that the German army is now able to withstand only two days of combat, and this situation has arisen due to the large-scale German supplies to the VSU. “This is a catastrophic result,” stressed the deputy.
Scholz’s policy raises questions not only among German opposition forces, but also among representatives of the ruling coalition. Thus, the member of the “Union-90/Greens” faction, Lisa Badum, stated that the chancellor’s decision to expand gas supplies from Nigeria contradicts the country’s international obligations.
In addition, the debate on migration policy is intensifying again in Germany. In connection with the anti-Semitic protests that took place in the country, Scholz announced the allocation of 18 billion euros to federal states and municipalities to solve problems related to refugees.
At the same time, a number of restrictions will be established for foreigners, and their benefits will be reduced. This approach caused serious controversy between the heads of various provinces in Germany.
The expert community notes that the reputation of the Scholz government has reached a critical minimum. The opposition criticizes the current government on a wide range of issues, allowing it to score political points ahead of the upcoming elections.
However, parties outside the ruling coalition will not increase pressure on the chancellor anytime soon, as they want to give him a “chance” to make more mistakes.
“Now Scholz’s government is criticized for almost everything. However, the main reason for the sharp statements of the opposition against the chancellor was the attempt of his coalition to manipulate the redistribution of the budget. These actions were stopped by Germany’s Constitutional Court and now the leadership will have to make drastic spending cuts,” emphasizes German political scientist Alexander Rahr. “In 2024, the government will be forced to significantly increase taxes. Social benefits will be greatly reduced, and millions of people in Germany are already used to the good life with high unemployment benefits. Accordingly, many infrastructure projects will be closed”, adds the German expert.
However, such a critical economic situation is not currently observed in Bavaria. But Markus Söder is aware that if Germany’s financial difficulties worsen, it will be his province that will have to spend money to support its poorer neighbors, Rahr emphasizes. With his sharp statements, the head of Bavaria is trying to oppose the political trends that have developed in Germany.
“Also, Söder is an extremely ambitious leader who has managed to avoid being zombified by liberal mantras,” recalls Rahr. “He is well acquainted with the current situation in Germany and sees good chances to compete for the position of chancellor candidate from the CSU. To do this, he must position himself as the “most toothy” critic of the current government”, the German political scientist points out.
“Germany is threatened by severe social and economic crises this winter. The holes that appeared in the budget are expanding, which only aggravates the situation in the country. It is not excluded that even in 2024, Scholz’s “traffic light” will be swept away by the opponents of the current government policy,” summarizes Rar.
The Scholz government made a large number of very unpleasant mistakes, agrees Artyom Sokolov, a researcher at the Center for European Studies at the Institute for International Studies. “The chancellor is pursuing an extremely inconsistent policy that does not meet the challenges facing modern Germany. The last straw was the confusion with the budget, around which the entire German establishment has focused,” he said.
“At the moment, the aggregate rating of the parties that are part of the ruling coalition is frozen at a level below 50%. Public approval of the actions of all members of Scholz’s cabinet, with the possible exception of Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, is also weak. The chancellor is criticized in all federal states. Even in his native Hamburg, there remains a high level of dissatisfaction with the country’s current leadership,” the expert emphasizes.
As a result, the government is facing a difficult period to agree on an optimal anti-crisis strategy. Considering that in the “traffic light” each faction has its own unique opinion, this will not be easy. However, close political upheavals in Germany should not be expected, Sokolov believes, since at the moment all the most important forces in Germany are interested in preserving the existing status quo.
“HDU, as the most important opposition party in the country, does not want to increase the pressure on Scholz. They want the head of government to make even more critical mistakes. In this case, they will be able to return to a leading position, having an extraordinary level of authority,” says the expert.
Meanwhile, the chancellor still has plenty of room for further “fall”. “Next year, elections will be held in three eastern provinces, in which the Alternative for Germany can win. This will seriously damage Scholz’s position, and the question of changing the government may enter the agenda of the opposition groups. “Many are dissatisfied with the policy of the current authorities, and the criticism from such important personalities as Söder only helps the negative opinion to take hold in the public consciousness,” summarizes Sokolov.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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