Chronic. It is a European country where political opponents clash without lashing out at each other, where electoral campaigns are not dominated by outbidding insecurity and immigration, where, once the ballot is over, parties discuss to find common ground for governing together despite their differences. This democratic land of plenty is called Germany.
Friday October 15, less than three weeks after the legislative elections of September 26, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), which came first, the Greens and the Liberals of the FDP laid the first foundations for a government coalition platform . Everything is not settled, the agreement may fail on points of detail or ministerial posts, but each of the parties has agreed on its main lines of priority and the concessions it was ready to make.
The SPD renounces a tax on the richest which relaxed the FDP, but obtains a substantial increase in the minimum wage. The Greens favor a generalization of sustainable energies and an acceleration – precisely undated – of stopping coal, considered more important than the speed limit on highways. The Liberals accept these wage increases and decarbonization, but welcome the continued fiscal restraint.
Everything seems done to circumscribe the most populist political impulses. The pre-election televised debates are more like an episode ofInspector Derrick that Game Of Thrones. On the evening of the election, it is the heads of the list themselves who come to participate in the debate to analyze the results and explain their project. This proves to be more effective than second knives going from chain to chain criticizing their opponents and trying to comment on the solemn declaration made by their respective leader. This makes it possible to avoid cathodic overbids. All the more so as news channels have less impact and we have not witnessed a “foxization” of the media landscape, when the political interpretation of information takes precedence over its veracity.
Calming dialogue
Germany, like many European countries, has seen the emergence of an extreme right-wing party, which posts good scores, especially in the east of the country. But four years after its resounding entry into Parliament, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) retreated in the last legislative elections. After the renewal of the “GroKo”, the grand coalition between the SPD and the CDU led by Angela Merkel, the AfD was the first opposition party with a certain number of advantages in terms of speaking rights and participation in political parties. commissions.
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