In Germany, coalitions tend to be ended by elections. You have to go back to 1982 to find another example. Since separated SPD and FDP in the middle of the legislative period. There was no more trust in each other.
On Wednesday, the current coalition, in which the SPD and FDP are again involved (and the Greens), ended, at least for the time being, a dispute that was about a detail of a major topic that was ridiculous given the world situation: after a long wrangling over a few months remaining term Europe’s largest economic power is firmly committed to the end of nuclear power generation.
Mistrust between the Greens and the FDP
The cabinet decision at the beginning of the legislative process was accompanied by assurances from all three traffic light parties that the dispute over the remaining lifetime of the nuclear power plants is now over. Chancellor Olaf Scholz was praised for his word of power. Admonitions could be heard that such debates should not take place again.
Why does this peace seem so fragile? Economics Minister Habeck from the Greens says he is assuming that the FDP will be faithful to the contract. Only do that if you don’t take it for granted. FDP party leader Kubicki is publicly questioning the agreement, and something like this can also be heard softly from others in the FDP. But it’s not just the Greens and FDP who don’t dare cross paths.
Many Social Democrats have made critical comments about the Greens without being asked on a wide variety of occasions. Apparently, even within the parties, people don’t meet each other with complete trust everywhere. The leader of the SPD parliamentary group, Mützenich, publicly points out that his fellow party member Scholz will certainly not make use of the authority to issue guidelines in an inflationary manner. Even if you take into account that this is the first traffic light alliance at federal level and that the times are particularly challenging: the distrust that the partners have in each other raises doubts about the coalition.
