"Plumbers are not master builders"
The government has no plan, the Chancellor shows no leadership: CDU leader Merz has criticized the coalition with traffic lights in no uncertain terms. Scholz apparently has no idea how to get out of the budget dilemma.
CDU leader Friedrich Merz is sobered by last night's coalition committee, which apparently broke up without any tangible results. "I am not surprised, I am rather disappointed that the coalition has not even been able to agree on a timetable as to whether the federal budget for 2024 should be discussed and adopted this year," said Merz on "ntv Frühstart".
"This is not an internal coalition matter, but a matter for the German Bundestag. And we don't know today, on November 30, whether we still need special sessions of parliament this year," continued the parliamentary group leader of the CDU/CSU parties in the Bundestag. He did not want to speculate on whether the traffic light coalition would continue. But the people of Germany are entitled to expect the government to do its job. "And it is not doing that at the moment because it is constantly arguing and because it does not agree on the key issues of German politics."
The federal government lacks leadership. "The Federal Chancellor himself obviously has no idea how to get out of this budget dilemma, out of this government crisis. And I have to say, that is something that is a real pain for all of us," said the CDU chairman.
First look at the budget
Merz once again spoke out against lifting the debt brake enshrined in the constitution. "Before we talk about new debt and lifting the debt brake, I would like to talk about how we can actually exploit the potential that we have in public budgets." Ultimately, there is plenty of money available. "We have 1,000 billion euros in tax revenue in Germany, 1 trillion euros. And at the same time, we have so much debt that we will have to pay 40 billion euros in interest next year."
He will meet with the Governing Mayor of Berlin, Kai Wegner, who has called for the debt brake to be relaxed. "We have arranged to meet in the next few days and will talk about this. Berlin's budget is in a particularly difficult situation and we are the last people who are not prepared to help the capital to get out of these difficulties. But this must be done by limiting debt and not by opening up a floodgate of new debt."
His comparison in the Bundestag that the Federal Chancellor was a "plumber of power" was not intended to insult plumbers. "Plumbers no longer exist in this sense. Today they are called plant technicians and have many other job titles. That's exactly what was meant. He turns small screws, but he is not able to produce the whole structure," said the CDU leader. He himself would be offended if he were called a CDU plumber. "Yes, because that's a description of someone who only turns the small screws and isn't able to actually construct an entire building. You need plumbers, but they're not architects and they're not master builders."
- Friedrich Merz, the leader of the CDU, criticized the traffic light coalition, expressing his disappointment that the coalition has yet to agree on a timeline for discussing and adopting the federal budget for 2024.
- In an interview on "ntv Frühstart," Merz highlighted the role of the German Bundestag in budget matters, stating that it's unclear whether special sessions of parliament will be necessary this year due to the coalition's inability to agree on key issues.
- The Federal Constitutional Court has issued several judgments regarding budget policy, with one notable decision finding that the debt brake, a constitutional provision, cannot be suspended without a proper legal basis.
- CDU chairman Olaf Scholz, the Federal Chancellor, faces criticism for his handling of the budget crisis and the government's inability to agree on key political issues, leading to a lack of leadership and government instability.
Source: www.ntv.de
