Merz attests to Scholz’s weakness in leadership in the traffic light dispute – Chancellor is silent

The opposition also gets involved in the open dispute between the traffic light parties: Merz accuses Scholz of leadership weakness. The chancellor is silent.

CDU leader Friedrich Merz accuses Chancellor Scholz of leadership weakness.Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa

CDU chairman Friedrich Merz has accused Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) of a lack of leadership in view of the ongoing dispute within the traffic light coalition. “One can only hope that at some point the dispute will end and that this government will come up with solutions again,” said the opposition leader on Thursday on the “RTL direct” program. He would be interested to know what the chancellor’s opinion was, added Merz, and raised the question of whether Scholz was still leading the federal government or whether he was once again allowing “essential parts of his cabinet to argue on the open stage”.

For weeks there have been heated discussions in the coalition, for example about motorway expansion, climate protection in the transport sector, heating replacement and the upcoming budget for 2024. The Greens in particular are currently articulating their displeasure with the work of the coalition, in which they are mainly influenced by the FDP feel slowed down.

Merz: “Chancellor stands by and says nothing”

Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) followed up with his criticism in the “Tagesthemen” on Tuesday evening and certified the coalition’s poor performance record: The coalition has a mission for the country, “and at the moment we are not doing enough to fulfill it”. The heads of the coalition will meet in the Chancellery on Sunday evening.

The current dispute is unprecedented, said Merz. “I have never experienced anything like this in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. That in a crisis situation a cabinet is constantly arguing, that the most important ministers are publicly at loggerheads, that the vice chancellor is showing all his frustration about his own government in a television interview. And the Chancellor stands by and says nothing.”

Chancellor Scholz has not yet commented on the discord in his coalition; his spokesman Hebestreit tried to calm down on Wednesday. The chancellor is “in talks with everyone and moving things in the right direction,” said Hebestreit. The spokesman asked for understanding for the necessary coordination processes within the coalition: “Some things take a little longer than you would like in a one-man government, but in the end there is always a good result.”