It was an open admission of failure when the coalition finally buried one of its projects in the middle of this week, even though the issue has been a poorly healing scar on the soul of society for years: “There will be no additional processing of the corona pandemic in this legislative period “, said the parliamentary managing director of the SPD parliamentary group, Katja Mast, and frankly admitted: “There is no strength in this coalition.”
It is regrettable that the planned reappraisal by the Bundestag failed. “We are not together at key points,” Mast said. There is now no longer enough time until the federal election to process the issue, as this only makes sense if it takes place jointly between the federal government and the federal states.
The coalition and coming to terms with Corona: postponed and pushed forward
In fact, the coalition has postponed and postponed the issue for so long that the time argument is just an excuse. At least in the SPD there is a party-tactical fear that the educational work could ultimately help the AfD. The Social Democrats, who had political responsibility in both the grand coalition and the traffic light government during the pandemic phase, have been blocking the issue for a long time with the strange demand that a “citizens’ council” should take over the process.
The FDP sat on the opposition benches in the Bundestag during the peak phase of the pandemic. Now she would have preferred to set up a sensational investigative committee. But as an alternative, the Liberals sensibly suggested that the Bundestag should commission independent scientists to investigate the matter and set up a so-called “Enquete Commission”.
Even Lauterbach and Spahn were in favor of a critical review
Such a commission, which is named after the French word “enquête”, meaning investigation, consists not only of experts but also of MPs from all political groups. There has rarely been a topic better suited for this than the analysis and evaluation of Corona policy. Even SPD Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and his CDU predecessor Jens Spahn were open to such a commission, and the AfD and the Left were also in favor. The Greens were rather cautious about the proposal because they feared polemic disputes within the committee.
The fact that the reappraisal is now finally falling apart before the federal election will have its revenge in precisely this respect: the refusal provides the AfD with campaign ammunition, but the procedure turns out to be a much more serious socio-political mistake. Many of the consequences of the corona pandemic still weigh on people today: be it the consequences of schools being closed for a long time, be it the psychological effects of the crisis situation on the individual, Long Covid illnesses, the state’s demonstrations of power or the formative consequences for young people.
In Bavaria, too, there is a bottom line mentality when it comes to dealing with Corona
In purely factual terms, it’s about the scientific and political lessons from the pandemic. A sober analysis based on today’s knowledge would not be an accusation, but rather an opportunity to learn from mistakes and could ultimately help to alleviate social divisions. The fact that this process has not begun long ago shows that the traffic light cannot live up to its promise of “departure” in the field of social policy either.
But it’s not just the traffic lights that avoid the strenuous work of coping and unpleasant realizations. Even in the federal states, including Bavaria, which is particularly rigorous when it comes to Corona measures, there is a final line mentality among those politically responsible. This way of thinking delays conflicts in society instead of resolving them.
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