Probing: A Question of Discipline

The parties struggle for self-discipline in the explorations. The Union in particular is about a lot. The role of the opposition could break the party.

Sometimes no answer is an answer. In the light of the explorations, the answer is: discipline. Because for the time being, all those involved seem to adhere to the self-imposed requirement of silence. The message: Anyone who gossips is unreliable and disloyal. The 2017 Jamaica explorers in particular have learned a lot. If you go through too much, you lose trust. And that is extremely difficult anyway with a three-person constellation. Traffic light or Jamaica. No matter in which alliance they ultimately rule, no one wants to be the fifth wheel on the car. And there is always the risk that one of the coalition partners will feel that way. Green leader Robert Habeck has not only recognized this, but also formulated it directly to his own party.

His sentence at the state council will have to be remembered again and again on the government bank and on the green base in the coming years: “It will be exhausting.” Is government responsibility already pressing here? Yes and no. It is already about the concern of being recognizable as a party after four years. This applies to everyone who still claims to be a people’s party. But also for those who now claim to be no longer just the little kingmaker. The Greens were meanwhile already on the way to the People’s Party as strong competition to the Union. And the liberals have swam free from the bourgeois camp in recent years.

The selfie euphoria seems subdued again

Everything is possible. That doesn’t make it easy for the Union and the SPD. You can see it clearly on the probers in round two.

The selfie euphoria also seems subdued for the time being. The FDP General Secretary speaks of constructive talks, but lets it be seen that there is more black in the heart than red. And vice versa, the Greens. The SPD has noticed this and tightened the “wording”. The Secretary General has made it clear again who is entitled to the government bank and who is not. Lars Klingbeil wants a coalition of election winners, i.e. red-green-yellow. Even after a week, this is still the most likely option.

Apparently she is not sure yet. Because after a week of tough attacks against its own party leader, the Union shook itself and inevitably disciplined itself. According to the motto: Let’s see how the talks go.

Awakening in the opposition would have a bitter aftertaste for many. The CDU and CSU would end up between the Left Party and AfD, of all parties with whom they refuse to cooperate. There are incompatibility decisions in the Union for both. Agreements in the opposition are likely to be difficult.

What to do?

So what to do In the opposition, then renew without Laschet or would you rather still govern with the supposedly weak candidate?

Some say: we can no longer oppose. And the others answer, especially on parts of the grassroots, that that would be very good. Then you wouldn’t always have to take Berlin into consideration. And then there are those who want to rule, but no longer with Laschet. But he’s still not thinking of withdrawing, at least as long as he’s negotiating.

There are only mind games in the Union. Here they know that they will no longer decide. That is why they are now waiting in the Adenauer House, full of humility, for Morse code from the FDP and the Greens.