And how did it go? The politicians of the traffic light government in Meseberg
Image: dpa
A year ago, the SPD, Greens and FDP presented their coalition agreement. The balance sheet of a political alliance of convenience in turbulent times.
A year after the oath, something like a spirit of optimism could actually be felt again on Wednesday. The general debate in the Bundestag was formally about the budget of the traffic light coalition. But in the end it was everything. After CDU leader Friedrich Merz had given free rein to his criticism of the government (“constant argument”, “loss of trust”, “poor craftsmanship”), Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) praised the work of the traffic light coalition and thanked the Greens and FDP. Merz’s speech reminded him of the children’s book “Alice in Wonderland”, says Scholz: “What is really big, you talk down, and vice versa.”
Review: On November 24, 2021, the SPD, Greens and FDP presented their newly forged alliance and its leitmotif in Berlin’s Westhafen: “Dare to make more progress”. But with the Russian attack on Ukraine on February 24, the 144-page master plan had to take a back seat. Progress was defined differently from then on. Who would have thought twelve months ago that the Green Economics Minister Robert Habeck would travel to Qatar as a petitioner to open up new gas sources for Germany? That the liberal Minister of Finance and advocate of the debt brake Christian Lindner would have credit authorizations of half a trillion euros approved by the Bundestag? That the Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz should increase the budget of the Bundeswehr by half, after he previously had little left as finance minister out of consideration for his party for national defense?