The trio, on the other hand, agreed that none of them wanted to introduce additional quarantine closures or widespread compulsory vaccination against covid-19, but Baerbock did not rule out that vaccination might be mandatory for some professions in the future. Parliamentary elections are held in Germany on September 26.
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“Not in the current situation, but this cannot be ruled out in the future,” Baerbock said when asked whether, for example, police officers and paramedics would have to be vaccinated. All three support the current vaccination campaign and want to expand it further.
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CDU candidate Armin Laschet before the start of the television debate.
Photo: Michael Kappeler, Reuters
None of the three candidates wants to introduce a new quarantine closure, and according to them, it will not be necessary in the current situation. Scholz and Baerbock stated that they supported the proposal for the compulsory presentation of a certificate of infectivity on long-distance journeys in Germany, for example on long-distance trains. Such a possibility is now being debated by the government of the incumbent Conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel. Laschet declined to make a clear statement on the matter because of legal and organizational issues.
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The debate, broadcast on RTL and n-TV, began with moderators asking why their political rivals should not lead Germany. All candidates refused to agree in the same way, saying that they did not want to talk badly about their opponents. “This is not a style we should cultivate in Germany,” Scholz said.
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He won today’s television debate in a flash poll conducted by Forsa among viewers.
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SPD candidate Olaf Scholz in a television debate.
Photo: Michael Kappeler, Reuters
Just a few minutes later, Finance Minister Scholz faced criticism from both Baerbock and Laschet for insufficient military funding and also for what was happening in Afghanistan, which was quickly dominated by expectations by the radical Islamist Taliban movement. Scholz also had to defend Social Democratic Foreign Minister Heik Maas. to which many politicians attribute responsibility for underestimating developments in Afghanistan and for the delayed evacuation of Afghans working in the German service.
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Green candidate Annalena Baerbocková
Photo: Michael Kappeler, Reuters
Scholz said the German army suffered from a lack of funding under Conservative Defense Minister Karel-Theodor zu Guttenberg during Merkel’s second government, when the governing coalition was made up of Conservatives and Liberals (FDP). “These were bad times for the Bundeswehr,” Scholz said of the German army.
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Baerbock said the country’s security needed to be strengthened, but that defense spending of two percent of gross domestic product (GDP), as agreed by the North Atlantic Alliance, was not the way to go. “If the country does not prosper economically, defense spending will fall,” she added. According to her, the soldiers need money for armaments and equipment right away.
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