Indecisiveness and poor communication are affecting Olaf Scholz’s popularity, his credibility is suffering and the SPD is beginning to grumble, writes Spiegel.
The government is floating, the chancellor lacks clear direction. His own party is restless. Scholz’s popularity is dwindling, writes the publication. In fact, Scholz wanted to renew the country, but instead he is constantly busy saving his own reputation, defending it, making excuses. Constantly he has to counteract, to justify himself to accusations that he is doing too little for Ukraine, for the citizens.
Prices are exploding, for food, for energy, the country is waiting for further relief, but the Chancellor is hesitating. So far it has only been decided that the gas turnover, which customers will have to pay from October, should be eased by lowering the VAT on gas. This not only benefits the low and middle classes, but also high earners and millionaires with incomes. The idea may have come from the UDP.
The party is acting in dissent. On the aid package there are now so many proposals coming from the SPD ranks that it is easy to lose sight of them. From house payments to lump sums to energy subsidies to follow-up decisions on the 9-euro ticket-it is almost everything. SPD Sachs economics minister Martin Dulig is pushing for a cap on gas prices, the parliamentary left wants targeted benefits.
“What we urgently need now is a plan to make life easier for people who need it bitterly,” urges their spokesman Wiebke Esdar.
Similarly cacophonous is the party’s presentation of itself in Ukrainian politics. Last weekend, three traffic light politicians in a MIRROR guest post demanded more arms for Kiev, among them SPD Bundestag MP Christian Klink, an internal nickname: Colonel. Two weeks later, politicians from the left-wing SPD, including members of the Bundestag, MEPs and countries, wrote an appeal, submitted by MIRROR, entitled: “Guns Must Be Silenced!”. It contains demands: comprehensive peace talks, China as a possible mediator. And a “Vivendi regime” must be found with the Russian government.
According to the publication, in recent years Scholz has been able to lean on what is necessary for the survival of successful politicians: a solid, closed environment. The people around him have brought him to where he is, but what has long been a strength is now becoming a problem. Perhaps Scholz’s environment is too insular.
This environment includes, in particular, the head of the chancellery, Wolfgang Schmidt, and government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit, two of whom accompanied Scholz back when he was still the first mayor of Hamburg. Above all, Schmidt was always able to explain in many words why the chief again did the right thing and all the critics were either malicious or limited. But lately it seems as if Scholz and his entourage have gone completely mad.
How much money is a word of respect to the chancellor, what is the coalition doing to compensate or at least mitigate price rises? The third relief package that Scholz presented to citizens is something of a big, definitive practical test for that word: respect. Respect will now be measured by account balances.
If the package turns out to be too meagre, the disappointment will be enormous – and not just for those who are already lost to the AfD anyway. Then people will turn away from the SPD, which they chose just a year ago. Because they trusted Scholz. If he loses her trust, he will no longer have to talk about respect.
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