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Federal President: Steinmeier: Government must explain decisions better

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Federal President
Steinmeier: The government must explain decisions better

Poor poll results from the traffic light coalition: Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier speaks to the government’s conscience. photo

© Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa

The appearance of the traffic light government is miserable. The Federal President makes an unusual appeal to the government’s conscience.

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called on the federal government to better explain its decisions to citizens and also to involve the opposition. The many successive crises created uncertainty, the head of state told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (Saturday), referring to the traffic light coalition’s poor poll results. “But it is also clear that if a government’s credibility declines, this is also due to the fact that decisions have not been sufficiently communicated or accepted or are being overshadowed by internal disputes that are leaking out to the outside world. The government must have an interest in this to improve.”

The debates in Germany have become more heated and there is a growing acceptance of populist positions that make governing more difficult, Steinmeier admitted. “This causes unrest, including among those responsible for politics. This makes it all the more important to find the strength to work together.”

The Federal President emphasized: “Citizens have the expectation that those responsible in parliament will recognize when the whole thing is really at stake.” There have always been situations in the history of the Federal Republic where the government and the opposition came together even after the sharpest disputes – for example on the questions of ties to the West, the Eastern treaties or the asylum compromise in 1993. “I hope that this is not ruled out now either.”

Merz: Criticism of Chancellor Scholz

CDU leader Friedrich Merz has long complained that Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is not responding to offers of cooperation, for example on a cross-party compromise to limit disorderly immigration to Germany. Prime ministers complain that the relationship between the federal and state governments is worse than it has been for a long time. After the CDU federal executive board meeting in Heidelberg, Merz once again signaled a willingness to work together, but this made the traffic light exceptionally difficult to deal with. North Rhine-Westphalia’s Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) suggested in the “Tagesspiegel am Sonntag” a “centre alliance” and an early meeting between Scholz and the state leaders to talk about migration policy.

At the weekend, Chancellor Olaf Scholz acknowledged the need for improvement in the appearance of the coalition made up of the SPD, Greens and FDP. “Even within the government, things didn’t always go the way I think they should. We have to do better this year,” said the SPD politician in a “Chancellor Compact” video message distributed on Saturday. At the same time, he urged the ability to compromise. “Democracy thrives on compromise.”

Loss of reputation of the traffic light coalition

A new survey by the Insa opinion research institute for “Bild am Sonntag” shows the loss of reputation of the traffic light coalition among the population. Accordingly, 76 percent are dissatisfied with the work of the federal government. Only 17 percent are satisfied – according to the newspaper, the worst value since taking office in December 2021.

In the Sunday question, the SPD only got 15 percent (-1), the Union would be twice as strong at 30 percent. The Greens (12 percent) and FDP (5 percent) stick to their values. The AfD loses one point to 22 percent, the Left (4 percent) and Free Voters (3 percent) would miss entry into the Bundestag.