Mützenich deemed Lindner's summit as utterly absurd.
There's a boiling pot in the traffic light coalition government, with economic policy initiatives causing friction among the partners. This discord is being publicly voiced by those involved. Even SPD faction leader Mützenich hasn't held back his criticism.
SPD faction leader Rolf Mützenich has blasted Finance Minister Christian Lindner for attempting to undermine Chancellor Olaf Scholz's work. Mützenich finds it absurd that Lindner scheduled his own economic summit for next Tuesday, after Chancellor Scholz had invited representatives from associations, trade unions, and industry to a high-level meeting on solutions to the economic downturn on the same day.
"The Finance Minister should stick to his department and not try to derail the Chancellor's work with his own event," Mützenich told the "Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung" in Heidelberg. Lindner, an FDP minister, then arranged his own economic summit, inviting associations not invited to Scholz's meeting.
The Greens warned Lindner against staging a display. "The times are too serious for summit volleyball," said Andreas Audretsch, deputy chairman of the Green parliamentary group, to the "Bild" newspaper. "We need to work together to address these issues." In this context, Audretsch advocated for the Germany Fund, proposed by Economics Minister Robert Habeck. This, he believed, would be the best tool to boost innovation and infrastructure in Germany.
Mützenich questions the government's ability to act
However, Mützenich was irritated by Habeck's proposal. "A special fund requires the approval of the opposition," Mützenich said. "If the Vice-Chancellor now wants to prepare a special fund for the economy, for economic recovery, I would be interested to know if he has spoken to Mr. Merz about it," Mützenich told the media. In general, Mützenich would have "happily done without" this "idea" from Green politician Habeck.
Meanwhile, CDU leader Friedrich Merz criticized the internal tensions within the coalition. "We have a federal government that cannot deliver," said Merz at the Young Union's Germany Day in Halle an der Saale. Looking at the possibility of early federal elections due to the failure of the traffic light government, Merz said: "Every week and every month earlier would be better for Germany."
Regarding the calling of the two summits by Scholz and Lindner, the Union's chancellor candidate said: "What kind of image does that present for a government?" It appears that in the coalition, "the individual parts are only doing what they want, and leadership has disappeared entirely."
Mützenich's criticism of Lindner further intensified the tension within the 'The traffic lights coalition', as he accused the Finance Minister of attempting to undermine Chancellor Scholz's initiatives. Furthermore, the internal discord within the coalition was highlighted when the Greens warned Lindner against staging his own economic summit, deeming it inappropriate given the current serious economic situation.
