Politicians from the Ampel coalition critique the approach in governance - Habeck takes the front against Lindner
Minister Buschmann spoke up in "Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland" (RND) concerning whether the traffic light coalition would endure until the standard federal election in autumn 2025: "If one takes on the responsibility for high-level government roles, one also has the obligation to perform duty. If everyone viewed it as such, the task might become a bit more manageable."
Recently, there have been repeated disputes between FDP Finance Minister Christian Lindner and Green Economics Minister Robert Habeck. On Tuesday evening, Habeck, who's often referred to as a potential Green chancellor nominee, joined in on a panel event. "If I were ever to become Federal Chancellor, Christian Lindner will not serve as Finance Minister," Habeck stated.
Green parliamentary group leader Droge voiced her concerns on Wednesday regarding the style of cooperation within the coalition. "The way this coalition operates, the constant bickering, the continuous stirring up of conflicts – that's not what we Greens expect from collaboration in a government," Droge asserted during Deutschlandfunk.
Droge underscored that agreed-upon arrangements must be binding. She cited the ongoing dispute over the federal budget for the coming year as an instance, despite a cabinet agreement on the matter. "It honestly can't be that a federal cabinet agrees on a budget prior to the summer and then argues about it again during the summer without making any real progress."
At the beginning of July, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens), and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) reached a consensus on crucial points for the 2025 budget, subsequently approved in the cabinet. However, calls for advancements came from all governing parties shortly after the agreement.
Droge's Green parliamentary colleague Irene Mihalic implied criticism towards the FDP. "It becomes more complicated when a partner continually positions against its own coalition in public," said the Green parliamentary business manager of the "Bild." The constant arguing and back-and-forth are "rightfully irritating people."
SPD politician Roth is bothered by the ongoing dispute in the traffic light coalition. He doesn't want Germany to be excluded from the international stage because it's no longer focusing on crucial matters, but rather campaigning. "So pull yourselves together, tighten your belts, and get down to business. Stand together, and then we can achieve what we want," Roth urged during RTL and ntv.
SPD leader Lars Klingbeil emphasized that German politics must not "remain stuck in trivial matters, not in this mutual bickering." A direction must be shown to the people showing "how Germany can continue to be a powerful nation." Looking ahead to the federal election in approximately 13 months, it requires "pure SPD, not this chaos that sometimes inhabits the government."
Chancellor Scholz recently acknowledged challenges within the coalition and advised the coalition partners to observe "proper conduct" in an appearance in Bremen. To what extent internal tensions were addressed in the cabinet meeting led by Scholz on Wednesday, government spokesman Wolfgang Büchner declined to divulge, citing the confidentiality of the discussions.
Regarding the public debate regarding the "traffic light," Büchner simply stated: "The Federal Chancellor has expressed himself, others have also expressed themselves, and that's how those statements stand for themselves."
After the public criticism from SPD politician Roth, Michael Roth urged the traffic light coalition to focus on crucial matters and avoid campaigning, stating, "So pull yourselves together, tighten your belts, and get down to business. Stand together, and then we can achieve what we want."
Despite the internal disputes within the coalition, Minister Buschmann highlighted the importance of high-level government roles, saying, "If one takes on the responsibility for high-level government roles, one also has the obligation to perform duty. If everyone viewed it as such, the task might become a bit more manageable."
