REg and balancing have something in common, for example that it is easier to find the balance than to keep it. Constant fine-tuning is not a sign of weakness, but the norm. How crisis-proof the federal government is at the moment cannot be measured by how adamant it is, but by whether it is making progress.
Sometimes even politicians from the governing parties ignore this. They grumble because a coalition partner is wobbling, and this causes them to stagger themselves. Kind of like acrobats who build a pyramid and argue about who just wasn’t paying attention for a moment. For example, the SPD chairman Klingbeil recently publicly accused the Green Economics Minister Habeck of “technical errors”, while FDP Justice Minister Buschmann warned against “scaremongering” by the SPD Health Minister Lauterbach. The Greens parliamentary group leader, in turn, tweeted about the Chancellor’s “poor performance” and his “lousy poll numbers” and also referred to his memory gaps in the Warburg case and his joint responsibility for Nord Stream 2. It was probably only due to the character limit of the tweet that the green one didn’t also remind of Scholz’s oversized sweater, which he wore half a year ago on a night flight, which was generally ridiculed.
Fight? “Public Exchange”!
What’s all this about? Clearly: nothing. It is not an expression of a strategy, but of uncertainty, which is why it gets on the nerves of many citizens. Constructive argument looks different. This, in turn, is necessary for a culture of mistakes that is not limited to assigning blame. However, some media play a not insignificant role in the dynamic. They treat politician tweets like manifestos, teasing backbenchers like ministers, marginal notes like government statements, and wry looks like last warning shots before battle. The Germans are used to the government arguing, even more violently than recently. For example in the grand coalition of Union and SPD, or also in the Union itself. For quite a while you could look for the error culture of the CDU and CSU with the magnifying glass. You would not have found them.
FDP finance minister Lindner then described the latest nitpicking as a “public exchange” this week, which was an understatement that was refreshing in times of exaggeration. The cabinet meeting of the federal government in Meseberg had just ended, and Lindner had appeared before the press together with the Federal Chancellor and the Economics Minister. Three men on a tightrope trying to keep their balance. Small gestures showed that. Habeck praised the Chancellor as fundamentally as if he had voted for the SPD himself. Lindner spoke of local public transport as “Öffis”, as if he were constantly driving the bus himself. And Scholz was Scholz. But at least someone who allowed questions and didn’t scold anyone.
operational delays
But that’s not enough to convince citizens. In a crisis, a government must show four characteristics in particular, which are the same as those that sociology considers to be prerequisites for the resilience of a society: it must be able to withstand stress, have a plan B for every important plan A, be imaginative and ultimately quick. One of the difficulties facing the federal government is that three parties have to agree on many issues, and then they have to agree with each other. This comes at the expense of speed and resilience. See gas allocation. Or 9 euro ticket. It’s gone without a follow-up ticket. Millions of summer drivers fall into a disappointment hole. The ticket was actually a sensation, something like the tax return on the stamp: within a few weeks, citizens got what had long seemed unattainable behind the thorny hedges of German bureaucracy. Now they’re waiting for a new ticket like a train that’s only supposed to be five minutes late, then ten. operational delays.
In addition, there is Scholz’ claim to explain from the end. This week he described it with the metaphor that his administration is constructing a major structure, the third relief package. But there are also windows in the fence at construction sites so that people can look inside. As with Robert Habeck, who admitted that the design of his gas allocation had errors. Habeck is not respected because he didn’t make mistakes, but because he talks about mistakes.
The relief package should be ready on Saturday. high time. The government must show that, wobbles or not, it is keeping the balance.