Dhe technical quality of politics can be measured very well by the role that moral considerations and demands play. Sure, you can’t do without morality, but all too often it’s used to cover up tangible deficits. This is also the case now in the debate about the burden on citizens and companies caused by the exploding prices of energy sources. First it was said in the federal government that some companies should voluntarily forgo the gas surcharge. So one should be so noble because the Federal Ministry of Economics has not managed to distinguish legally between more and less needy companies? The SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil went one better and spoke of “indecent free riding”. No sovereign acting chancellor party speaks like that.
Which could be because the SPD is anything but self-confident. Because she not only shoots at companies, but also violently against the top representative of her Green coalition partner, Economics Minister Robert Habeck. New style, respectful interaction, joint search for solutions? Oh, what do I care about my gossip from yesterday, a CDU chancellor would have said.
Klingbeil publicly doubts Habeck’s professional substance, the spokesman for the Seeheimer Kreis says the Habeck principle: Appearance ready for film, technical implementation questionable, and in the end the citizen pays for it. During the election campaign, things were more civilized between the parties than they are now in the coalition. At that time, Scholz benefited from the mistakes of others. Some in the SPD now want that again.
Nobody seriously wants a break in the coalition
Does it have to be that way? After all, the biggest Habeck critics in the SPD are also the biggest fans of government. No one is seriously considering breaking up the coalition – and rightly so, given the magnitude of this crisis. But it turns out that the SPD only narrowly won the Bundestag elections, and a year later its foundations are still pretty shaky. Polls put her in third place, and the chancellor’s popularity ratings are moderate.
This is astonishing, because at least at the beginning of a major crisis, the population usually rallies around the head of government. At least that’s how it was at the beginning of the financial crisis and the corona pandemic. And the population definitely supports Scholz’s broad lines: sanctions against Russia, upgrading of the Bundeswehr, saving in winter. But when it comes to working on the ground, voters drop out. You are not convinced.
The cabinet must use the two days that it is now spending in seclusion in Meseberg to readjust its policy. So far, attempts have been made to prevent what is supposed to be rising popular anger in view of the rapidly rising energy prices with quick fixes such as the gas levy. But what is currently infuriating is the government’s poor problem-solving skills.
It must now be decided what can and must be expected of the citizens. This includes the realization that some people can still cope quite well with the rise in electricity and gas prices, while others cannot. Especially not those whose heating costs are not paid for by the state, but who just barely make ends meet with the work of their hands. It should be this group that is particularly disappointed by the SPD. Greens and FDP fish in higher-income waters.
The traffic light progress coalition has described itself as an alliance for freedom, justice and sustainability. Justice comes from the SPD, and that’s why there is actually a great opportunity in the massive resurgence of the social question. But it is not used.
For a very long time, the Social Democrats have not been able to combine the interests of the marginalized and those of the middle class. If social balance is required, the middle has to do it, such as well-earning skilled workers. That is the clientele of the SPD. But if you can only just make ends meet, your solidarity is limited. The SPD parliamentary group’s proposal for an electricity and gas price brake, for example, is now aimed at these people.
That would also be, one has to put it that way, finally politics for adult and responsible citizens again. For too long there have been far too personal statements by politicians about the duration and temperature of the shower and infantile tips about using washcloths. There, too, there was too much moral zeal – in which the Chancellor rightly did not participate. It’s time for solid, problem-solving policies to be put in place again. Because only then will the German people continue to have the strength and will to support the fight of Ukraine and the West against Putin.