“Olaf Solz thinks he’s a genius. But it is not. He’s not bad, but he’s not a genius either. You see him, but he is not seen. You listen to him, but you don’t understand what he says”, Gabor Steingaard wrote a few days ago in his authoritative newsletter
Olaf Solz wanted to be the “chancellor of the climate”, of the welfare state, of human rights, if only the chancellor of recovery after the pandemic. Certainly, however, he did not want to become – after Angela Merkel – chancellor of crises and even less of war, the energy crisis, inflation and – even personal – scandals.
“Olaf Solz thinks he’s a genius. But it is not. He’s not bad, but he’s not a genius either. You see him, but he is not seen. You listen to him, but you don’t understand what he says”, Gabor Steingaard wrote a few days ago in his authoritative newsletter.
“In the inquiry into the Cum-Ex scandal, Olaf Scholz shows all the arrogance he possesses – and it’s big,” Handelsblatt comments on the chancellor’s appearance before the Hamburg parliamentary committee investigating possible political involvement in the scandal Warburg Bank’s multi-billion tax evasion, when Mr. Scholz was mayor/governor of the Hanseatic city.
“Have you thought about whether you are really coming off as a bigot?” Tina Hassel of the public ARD asked the chancellor directly. Lately, it’s not just Olaf Solz’s performances that are in the spotlight, but also his character. And this, in a country like Germany, which for 16 years had as chancellor an East German woman with no interest in communication, means something.
A year ago, few would have bet that Olaf Solz, the man who failed to win the leadership of his party (SPD), would win the election and become chancellor. Of course, some would argue that the Christian Democrats (CDU), with a series of disastrous choices and communication failures, gave victory to their opponent, who, however, in the negotiations for the formation of a government coalition, proved to be impressively skilled in bringing together schools and opinions and a keen balancer, eventually leading Germany’s first three-party government. The most… suspicious, of course, said at the time that the ultimate glue was nothing more than the will of all three to rule.
Nine months on, the SPD is consistently below 20% in the polls, behind the CDU and the Greens and Mr Solz himself between 3rd and 4th in the politicians’ popularity rankings. Dissatisfaction with the government’s performance reaches 63%, and its leader is struggling – not only through his own fault – to coordinate his party, the Greens and Liberals (FDP), in the face of the huge problems that urgently call for solutions.
Mr. Soltz had every reason to believe it would be easier. He was the finance minister for the previous four years. He knew he was taking on a strong economy, which was waiting for the end of the pandemic to get ahead again, selling Made in Germany dearly again. He planned the shift to the greener and more social one and looked confidently ahead, even to a second term.
The reality, however, is proving much harsher and not at all sensitive to the vision of the former Marxist youth leader of the SPD. By the time he was installed in the chancellorship in December 2021, inflation and energy problems had already begun to emerge, although Mr Solz was still among the leaders betting that Russia would not attack Ukraine.
When that belief collapsed too, it brought along the German-Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which never worked and certainly any recovery plans. The consequences of the war prove to be unbearable even for the robust Germany. The country’s criminal degree of dependence on Russian energy, and Russia’s clear insolvency as a trading partner, repeatedly put Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck in the uncomfortable position of admitting that “it is impossible to predict the situation for the coming months.”
Olaf Solz has been criticized for weeks as being overly – even suspiciously – hesitant about military support for Ukraine. “Mr. Chancellor, do you really want the Ukrainians to win the war?”, BILD wrote daily.
The first measures to relieve citizens from the explosion of prices, the fuel tax deduction and the introduction of the single ticket of 9 euros, were received with satisfaction. They even contained inflation. However, in recent weeks, ahead of winter and while citizens’ insecurity is increasing dramatically, the chancellor has been circling his government’s “30 billion package”, without being able to describe exactly what it will include.
It is no surprise that in a recent RTL poll, 90% said they were unhappy with the easing measures. Even from the SPD camp there is now daily criticism of the inadequacy of benefits and the failure to relieve the lowest incomes.
Expectedly, one could say, following the daily behavior of the three parties of the coalition, along the lines of the Delphic oracle “let him who saves himself be saved”. “In the face of gas shortages and fears of a harsh winter, there is not much left of the friendly unifying atmosphere of the coalition’s early days. On the contrary, self-praise, self-promotion prevails among the central ministers. The main thing is for each of them to get it at least somewhat clean. What matters is ‘I’,” writes Spiegel, which runs under the central theme “The face of pain: is (Finance Minister) Robert Habeck genuine or is he wearing a mask?”.
The last few weeks have been devastating. Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) proposes “climate money”, infuriating Finance Minister and FDP leader Christian Lindner, who in turn angers the Greens with his ideas to extend the operation of nuclear plants, but also with his proposal for relief… of the rich. He then advertises that he will fight to get the EU to allow the 4.2c/kWh emergency tax on gas to be exempt from VAT, when everyone knew that was legally impossible. The next day, Mr. Lindner’s vice president, Wolfgang Kubicki, calls for Nord Stream 2 to finally be operational, just as Vladimir Putin and his friend Gerhard Schroeder have suggested. The government representative does not have time to refute and the chancellor watches the peculiar profile competition of his partners.
Olaf Solz himself had a rather nightmarish week: it started with the announcement of the “gas levy”, which caused panic among citizens and industry. He followed up with an indulgently unfortunate appearance at a press conference with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, when he brushed off his visitor’s comments about “50 holocausts by Israel at the expense of Palestinians.” “Scandal of anti-Semitism. The chancellery at its nadir,” commented BILD, despite the government spokesman’s public claims of responsibility. And ended up appearing before the commission of inquiry into the Cum-Ex scandal.
According to the RND Network, the chancellor in the three hours of his testimony used five to six variations of “I don’t remember”. Although he had been called as a witness, for most he was an accused. The opposition called for his resignation, ex-Left figure Fabio de Masi said Germany could not stand a “Pinocchio chancellor”, the chairman of the exploratory committee Richard Zeelmacher (CDU) suggested that Mr Solz be put under hypnosis, in case retrieve his lost memories… “Since the time of Helmut Kohl and the CDU donation scandal, no other chancellor has won such spicy titles,” commented the Austrian newspaper Kurier, noting further that Kohl was no longer in power, while Mr. Soltz has not even completed twelve months.
The weaknesses of the political system cause embarrassment to German society, which has learned to expect effective solutions from its leaders. The pressure Olaf Solz is currently under is unprecedented – at least not in the recent past.
The …. “Scholzomat” (because of the speech without outbursts and emotion) still seems to hold up. A few days ago, the chancellor stood for 50 minutes in an open square in Neuruppin, Brandenburg, to answer questions from citizens. A few meters away, Alternative for Germany (AfD) and Left protesters called him a “liar” and “traitor to the people”, giving a taste of what we are likely to see in the coming months if the worst-case scenarios are confirmed. After all, he himself described the energy crisis as “explosive material” for society.
The event was completed normally, according to the schedule. Because this is exactly what the Germans expect from their chancellor.
Read the News today and get the latest news. Follow us on Google News and be the first to learn all the news from Skai.gr.
