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Merkel expects to ‘sleep soundly’ under next German government

Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday gave her blessing to Germany's next likely coalition government, saying she expected to "sleep soundly" with Social Democrat Olaf Scholz as her replacement.

Published: 22 October 2021 19:20 CEST

Chancellor Angela Merkel gives a speech at the EU summit in Brussels on Friday.

Chancellor Angela Merkel gives a speech at the EU summit in Brussels on Friday. Photo: picture alliance/dpa/Pool AFP/AP | Aris Oikonomou

Merkel is bowing out of politics after 16 years in power, while her CDU-CSU conservative bloc is facing a stint in opposition after scoring its worst-ever result in last month’s general election.

Their main rivals, the centre-left Social Democrats, are now negotiating to form a coalition with the pro-business FDP and the ecologist Greens.

Their aim is to have Finance Minister and Vice-Chancellor Scholz installed as chancellor by early December, the parties announced on Thursday.

Asked by the Süddeutsche newspaper how she felt about a Social Democrat being back in charge soon, Merkel replied: “There will be political differences, of course. But I will be able to sleep soundly.”

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The veteran leader also indicated she didn’t expect major fiscal policy shifts under Scholz, in a country that prides itself on budgetary rigour.

As guardian of the nation’s finances since 2018, Scholz did not give the impression of “having loose purse strings”, Merkel said.

If the coalition talks are successful, the new three-way government is planning major investments in climate protection, infrastructure and education.

Given that the parties have also pledged not to raise taxes and to respect Germany’s constitutionally enshrined “debt brake” that caps new borrowing, it remains to be seen how the plans will be funded.

Merkel will stay on in a caretaker capacity until the new government is in place.

If the SPD, FDP and Greens are able to stick to their timetable, Merkel will fall a few days short of breaking Helmut Kohl’s record as longest-serving postwar chancellor.

Merkel, who has already undertaken several farewell visits abroad, said she was “flexible” about not knowing in advance when her last day on the job will be.

“I haven’t given any thought to what I’ll do the day after that,” she added.

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Traffic light coalition

Germany's next Chancellor Olaf Scholz (front, left) on stage in Berlin with other members of the new coalition government, and their signed agreement. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Michael Kappeler

The move marks the final stage of a 10-week week process that saw the three unlikely bedfellows forming a first-of-its-kind partnership in German federal government.

The SPD’s Olaf Scholz is now due to be elected Chancellor of Germany on Wednesday and his newly finalised cabinet will be sworn in on the same day. This will mark the end of the 16-year Angela Merkel era following the veteran leader’s decision to retire from politics this year.

Speaking at the ceremony in Berlin on Tuesday morning, Scholz declared it “a morning when we set out for a new government.”

He praised the speed at which the three parties had concluded their talks and said the fight against the Covid crisis would first require the full strength of the new coalition.

Green Party co-leader Robert Habeck, who is set to head up a newly formed environment and energy ministry, said the goal was “a government for the people of Germany”.

He stressed that the new government would face the joint challenge of bringing climate neutrality and prosperity together in Europe’s largest industrial nation and the world’s fourth largest economy.

Green Party leader Annalena Baerbock spoke of a coalition agreement “on the level of reality, on the level of social reality”.

FDP leader Christian Lindner, who managed to secure the coveted role of Finance Minister in the talks, declared that now was the “time for action”.

“We are not under any illusions,” he told people gathered at the ceremony. “These are great challenges we face.”

Scholz, Habeck and Lindner are scheduled to hold a press conference before midday to answer questions on the goals of the new government.

Breaking: the SPD, Greens and FDP have just signed a coalition agreement at a public ceremony in Berlin.

Olaf Scholz will become the new Chancellor in 24 hours. “Dare to make more progress” is the slogan of the three party coalition. pic.twitter.com/C9bv37aAym

— Trent Murray (@trent_murray) December 7, 2021

‘New beginnings’

Together with the Greens and the FDP, Scholz’s SPD managed in a far shorter time than expected to forge a coalition that aspires to make Germany greener and fairer.

The Greens became the last of the three parties to agree on the contents of the 177-page coalition agreement an in internal vote on Monday, following approval from the SPD and FDP’s inner ranks over the weekend.

“I want the 20s to be a time of new beginnings,” Scholz told Die Zeit weekly, declaring an ambition to push forward “the biggest industrial modernisation which will be capable of stopping climate change caused by mankind”.

Putting equality rhetoric into practice, he unveiled the country’s first gender-balanced cabinet on Monday, with women in key security portfolios.

“That corresponds to the society we live in – half of the power belongs to women,” said Scholz, who describes himself as a “feminist”.

READ ALSO: Scholz names Germany’s first gender-equal cabinet

The centre-left’s return to power in Europe’s biggest economy could shift the balance on a continent still reeling from Brexit and with the other major player, France, heading into presidential elections in 2022.

But even before it took office, Scholz’s “traffic-light” coalition – named after the three parties’ colours – was already given a baptism of fire in the form of a fierce fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

Balancing act

Dubbed “the discreet” by left-leaning daily TAZ, Scholz, 63, is often described as austere or robotic.

But he also has a reputation for being a meticulous workhorse.

An experienced hand in government, Scholz was labour minister in Merkel’s first coalition from 2007 to 2009 before taking over as vice chancellor and finance minister in 2015.

Yet his three-party-alliance is the first such mix at the federal level, as the FDP is not a natural partner for the SPD or the Greens.

Keeping the trio together will require a delicate balancing act taking into account the FDP’s business-friendly leanings, the SPD’s social equality instincts and the Greens’ demands for sustainability.

Under their coalition deal, the parties have agreed to secure Germany’s path to carbon neutrality, including through huge investments in sustainable energy.

They also aim to return to a constitutional no-new-debt rule – suspended during the pandemic – by 2023.

FDP cabinets
Volker Wissing (l-r), FDP General Secretary und designated Transport Minister, walks alongside Christian Lindner, FDP leader and designated Finance Minister, Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP), the incoming Education Minister, and Marco Buschmann, the incoming Justice Minister. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Michael Kappeler

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Incoming foreign minister Annalena Baerbock of the Greens has vowed to put human rights at the centre of German diplomacy.

She has signalled a more assertive stance towards authoritarian regimes like China and Russia after the commerce-driven pragmatism of Merkel’s 16 years in power.

Critics have accused Merkel of putting Germany’s export-dependent economy first in international dealings.

Nevertheless she is still so popular at home that she would probably have won a fifth term had she sought one.

The veteran politician is also widely admired abroad for her steady hand guiding Germany through a myriad of crises.

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