To analyse. Times are tough for German conservatives. In a few weeks, they lost one by one all the posts which symbolized their domination over the political institutions of the country for sixteen years. Since October 26, Christian Democrat Chancellor Angela Merkel is only responsible for current affairs. The future social democratic chancellor, Olaf Scholz, could be appointed as of December 6.
Wolfgang Schäuble, who more than anyone else embodied budgetary discipline when he was finance minister between 2009 and 2017, has given way to Bärbel Bas (SPD) on the “perch” of the Bundestag. He becomes a simple opposition member again. And finally Jens Weidmann, president of the Bundesbank, the German central bank, announced, on October 20, his resignation by the end of 2021, after a decade of service, six years before the official end of his mandate.
Of these three positions, the loss of the last is particularly painful for the Conservatives. The presidency of the Bundesbank, whose appointment is detached from the electoral agenda, is the embodiment of economic and monetary stability. In the so-called “ordoliberal” tradition, the last ideological benchmark of the conservatives in economic matters, a central bank must be independent of political power, little interventionist, and above all ensure price stability.
This conception, defended tooth and nail by Jens Weidmann within the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB), has earned him the nickname of “Mr. No”, because of his opposition to the debt buyback programs initiated. by Mario Draghi, former President of the ECB. Mr. Weidmann, close to Angela Merkel, is seen by the German conservatives as the last bulwark against a European monetary policy deemed too accommodating, which they remain convinced is leading to budgetary laxity and currency depreciation. The current surge in inflation is rekindling this concern.
Critical negotiations
Who will succeed Jens Weidmann? The question is all the more sensitive as it arises in the middle of one of the most significant transitional phases in recent history across the Rhine.
For the first time, a three-party alliance in which the Conservatives will not sit, will lead Germany. The “traffic light” coalition – made up of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens and the Liberals of the FDP – is currently negotiating the contours of its economic policy, despite very different approaches.
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