Despite constant disputes within the government, he seems blind to the problems: Olaf Scholz slides into the depression with Germany

The traffic light coalition (SPD, FDP and Greens) started the second half of its term of office this week after an eight-week summer break. The starting position could be better: according to a survey by the opinion research institute INSA, the government has fallen to the lowest level since the federal elections.

The frustration at the first general debate after the summer recess, which took place on Wednesday, was therefore great. Actually, the chancellor’s budget should be discussed in a general debate, but traditionally the chancellor outlines the rough plans for the coming year – and settles the opposition with them. This year, Scholz and opposition leader Friedrich Merz (CDU, 67) had an extremely violent argument.

Scholz suppresses his problems

This division in government is one of the main reasons why the polls are in the basement. In addition, Germans feel that the government is not addressing the country’s problems: According to a representative ARD survey from Wednesday, 28 percent of Germans think the government should take care of the economy. Immigration in Germany is the biggest problem in the country for 26 percent of the Germans surveyed.

No wonder the right-wing populist AfD is up to par. She promises change. Jonathan B. Slapin, 43, professor of European politics at the University of Zurich, recently told Blick: “We see the frustration that comes from three ideologically different parties in the government struggling to come to an agreement. This allows pollsters to give the government a big thumbs up.”

It’s time for Scholz to show an edge. But he doesn’t; he appears blind in his right eye. In August, he downplayed the AfD as a “bad mood party.” Ironically, in the month in which the AfD overtook the governing party SPD in several polls. And with that he proved once again: instead of positioning himself as captain of the ship, he prefers to take the position of the cabin boy in the crow’s nest: to observe rather than to act. Moderate instead of lead.

The German people do not want their chancellor

That also hurts the SPD. While the Greens and the FDP try to distinguish themselves with one demand after another, the SPD languishes in this alliance and becomes a wallflower, it is accused within its own ranks. An SPD MP recently told the German magazine Spiegel: “People are saying: Scholz is leading the government, he should come to the table.”

In the current budget week – which also includes the general debate – it is all about the whole. On the one hand, the government indicates the direction it is going in, and on the other hand, conflicts are also discussed in public.

And the traffic light coalition has a lot of them because they all have different goals. The heated and ongoing discussions about the heating law at the beginning of this year will not be forgotten. In the second half of office there is a threat of a fundamental conflict about the financial structure of the country in the traffic light coalition. The FDP wants basic child safety to be seen as the last major social reform of this legislature. The SPD and the Greens, on the other hand, see investments in the welfare state as investments in the future. These debates went so far that the Greens blocked a law.

Scholz now has to convince

Slowly, however, even the quiet Scholz seems to have understood that as chancellor he has to deal with things instead of watching or looking away. On Wednesday, he presented the ‘Germany Pact’ to the German Bundestag in a fiery speech. Scholz talks about the German energy policy, the slow housing construction in the republic, competitiveness and digitization. Everything should now be better, faster and more efficient. Because now everyone is finally working together, as he promised. Only: does he believe that too?

It remains to be seen whether Scholz has what it takes to unify his boisterous seamanship. At least during Wednesday’s general debate, it seemed he still had a lot to convince.