All parents who have so far benefited from the really generous Munich regulation for free kindergarten and cheap after-school care places can breathe a sigh of relief. The coalition has developed a concept of how a cost explosion could be averted. Such would have threatened because of a court ruling: the previous type of funding was no longer allowed, without a successor model there would have been massive increases in fees. It remains to be hoped that this time the city has found a legally secure framework.
Especially in times when not only the prices for electricity and heating, but also for food and other everyday items are rising so painfully, the commitment to financial relief for families is an important political signal.
The fact that the SPD is sticking to its generous line in this case and supporting all parents instead of getting involved in a debate about justice and envy suits them well. The Greens are now also committed to this, but should not act as if it had always been their line. In the past, you have at least struggled with the idea of supporting all parents equally with regard to the fees, regardless of their income.
Now, before Christmas, the coalition managed to pave the way for the continued existence or even an expansion of the generous fee regulation. The latter applies to private day care centers that could not or did not want to submit to the requirements of the old concept.
So everything good? For the parents yes, for city politics no. Because the Greens and the SPD, even after success, are no longer able to pretend to the outside world that they govern together instead of against each other. The image that this alliance gives tires people out and promotes disenchantment with politics to an extent that is now unbearable.
The cutting and stabbing in the coalition promotes disenchantment with politics
The political compromise and the joint commitment to it are part of the basics of a functioning coalition. In fact, however, the Greens and SPD again fail to give the impression that they are interested in the basic arithmetic of cooperation. Instead, there is already a tussle over authorship and the announcement of the joint model before it is officially presented to the public.
It is symptomatic that this coalition manages to make everyone aware of their inner quarrels two days before the traditional reckoning in city politics. On Wednesday, the city council will deal with the budget, i.e. the key figures that enable political action.
In a review of two and a half years of Green-Red, it will also be about what the coalition expects of the voters. The Greens and the SPD should slowly decide: either they pull themselves together or they don’t. Carrying on like this would be torture for everyone involved.