Rough discussion culture
Scholz is bothered by the tone within the coalition
08/13/2023 6:36 p.m
Because of the planned heating law, the governing parties have often been at odds in recent weeks. Chancellor Scholz would like the coalition partners to deal with each other more objectively in the future. In the Taurus debate, the Social Democrat continues to keep a low profile.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has warned the coalition partners in the traffic light government to resolve conflicts less loudly in future. “I wish that the tone would sometimes be different than it was in the past,” said the SPD politician in the ZDF summer interview when asked about the reasons for the low polls for the traffic light parties SPD, Greens and FDP. “I also have the impression that many have decided to change that over the summer,” he said of the relative calm in the traffic lights. “I encourage everyone to continue with that.”
According to the current RTL/ntv trend barometer, the SPD has 17 percent approval, the Greens 15 and the FDP 7 percent. In a survey published today by the Kanter Institute, the SPD is 19 percent, the Greens 16 and the FDP 6 percent. Above all, the dispute over the heating law is held responsible for the crash in the opinion polls.
In addition, according to the ZDF political barometer, 73 percent of those surveyed believe that Scholz is not asserting himself sufficiently. Only 21 percent consider him assertive. Scholz rejected this impression. “I’m the one who sets the pace and I see that as my job,” he said of his role in traffic lights. In truth, the traffic light government has already introduced a large number of laws that are important for achieving climate protection goals and investments in Germany.
“We deal with all the questions”
Scholz emphasized again that the impression that Germany is not a good investment location is wrong. The large investments in chip and battery factories as well as climate-friendly steel and chemical plants proved the opposite. The companies did not choose Germany because of the level of subsidies. The federal government only pays subsidies within the permitted EU framework.
Scholz again did not commit himself to the question of the delivery of German Taurus cruise missiles to Ukraine. “As in the past, we will always review every single decision very carefully, what works, what makes sense, what our contribution can be,” he said in the interview. This also applies to the Taurus delivery.
He did not want to be put under pressure on this issue, said Scholz, with a view to requests from home and abroad. He referred to the military support already provided to Ukraine in the form of artillery, tanks and anti-aircraft defenses. The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy just thanked him again for that.
Regarding reports that a technical range limitation of the Taurus cruise missile is possible, Scholz said: “We deal with all the questions that are brought to us.” But he only wants to comment on this “if there is something to say”.