Tuesday, January 05, 2021
Schwesig attacks Spahn
Groko election campaign in the video line
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's SPD Prime Minister Schwesig accuses CDU Health Minister Spahn at the federal-state summit of not having ordered enough corona vaccine for Germany. The CDU is assuming a concerted action by the SPD.
Also in the video conference between the Prime Minister and Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel, representatives of the SPD raised allegations against Federal Health Minister Jens Spahn. In particular, the Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Manuela Schwesig, "shot herself in" when it came to procuring vaccines, according to participants in the ntv group.
On Monday, the SPD-ruled federal states of Spahn had already submitted a comprehensive catalog of questions about the preparation of the current vaccination campaign, which was also discussed with Finance Minister and SPD Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz. SPD General Secretary Lars Klingbeil also said on Monday at ntv that he would have liked Merkel and Spahn to conclude bilateral contracts for the supply of vaccines and thus ensure "that we have more vaccines here in Germany". The European countries had transferred the vaccine order to the EU Commission.
Spahn is said to have reacted calmly in the Prime Minister's Conference. The CDU assumes that the allegations from the SPD are a concerted action by leading Social Democrats to prevent Spahn from being chosen as candidate for Chancellor. According to statements by Union parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus and Bundestag President Wolfgang Schäuble, there is a debate in the CDU about whether this year's candidate for chancellor of the Union must also be chairman of the CDU or the CSU. So far this has been agreed; Schäuble and Brinkhaus questioned that. This would make Spahn one of the most popular politicians in Germany a possible candidate.
However, the SPD's strategy, if it exists, could also backfire: the criticism could make Union-internal Spahn critics feel compelled to defend the health minister against attacks.
Union politicians fear that there will be several quarrels of this kind before the federal election in autumn. For the actions of the Greens, on the other hand, there is recognition from the CDU: They stayed out of everything and could then "isolate wise comments" in the end.
Green leader Robert Habeck accused Union and SPD meanwhile of damaging the population's trust in the corona vaccination. "Reciprocal accusations, retrospective better knowledge and election campaign preludes are not what we need," said Habeck of the German press agency. "Vaccinations are the way out of the pandemic, and trust in vaccination is the necessary capital. This trust is being squandered by the parties in charge of the government."
The FDP also criticized the dispute in the coalition. "In the intensive care units, the doctors fight for lives. At the cabinet table, the Union and the SPD fight each other for the best press", tweeted the parliamentary manager Marco Buschmann. "That doesn't just stunn me!"
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