Today Scholz is burying his traffic light coalition - here comes the unvarnished final assessment

FOCUS online Today Scholz is burying his traffic light coalition - here comes the unvarnished final assessment Article by guest author Gabor Steingart (Berlin) • 5 hours • 3 minutes reading time The Chancellor is asking for a vote of confidence, which means the traffic light coalition is finally being buried. It leaves many voters with the feeling that we are no better off than we were three years ago. Chancellor Scholz will therefore remain a footnote in history. This morning the Chancellor will ask the President of the Bundestag for a vote of confidence. Olaf Scholz is today driving the final nail into the coffin of a coalition whose illness has been long and painful. The smell of a corpse has been wafting around this project for months. What started out with great arrogance as a "progressive coalition" has brought a lot of trouble to those involved and to the country. There will be no need to shed tears at the grave of this government. The surreal “Da Da Da” by Trio is played for the requiem: “I don’t love you, you don’t love me. Aha-aha-aha.” With the vote of confidence, Scholz clears the way for new elections. It is now time for voters to ask themselves the classic question of every election debate, which is: Are we better off today than we were three years ago or not? We should not be guided by feelings but by facts when answering. So here is the unvarnished final assessment of the traffic light coalition: #1 Economic output shrinks The output of Europe’s largest economy, which has recently ranked ahead of Japan due to the devaluation of the yen, collapsed like a cooling soufflé under the leadership of Scholz, Habeck and Lindner. After the gross domestic product fell by 0.3 percent last year, the federal government is expecting a decline of 0.2 percent this year. Germany is the lame one in Europe. #2 The firing begins The SPD-led government's job balance is poor. One in seven jobs at SAP is to be cut in Germany, that's around 3,500 employees. Around 3,800 jobs will be lost at Bosch, and 11,000 fewer people will work in Thyssenkrupp's steel division. Volkswagen is planning to close several plants in Germany. Workers are not looking for more, but are afraid of continuing as before. #3 Record high national debt The missing shares of prosperity are being bought on the capital market. Despite the debt brake, national debt rose by 176 billion euros to 2.46 trillion euros in the three traffic light years. The interest service in the federal budget is expected to amount to almost 40 billion euros for 2024, which is almost the same as the budget of the Ministry of Transport. #4 Annoyance of citizen's allowance On January 1, 2023, the former Hartz IV was transformed into citizen's allowance. With the associated increases in this social benefit, the Federal Republic has put itself in a difficult financial situation and at the same time is entering into wage competition with the middle class. #5 Inflation causes loss of prosperity The three years of traffic light were marked by a phase of drastic price increases that have never decreased again. Since September 2021, prices have risen by almost 16 percent and have not become a cent cheaper since then. Inflationary pressure has decreased, but has not disappeared. #6 Illegal migration not stopped After 2015, the number of illegal entries fell, only to rise to a new high during the traffic light coalition's time in power - the second highest figure since 2000. The promise of "controlled immigration" was not fulfilled. #7 Foreign investors avoid our country Germany has lost its attractiveness for capital from abroad. According to Bundesbank data, foreign companies invested just over 100 billion euros in equity capital in Germany in 2020 and 2021, but only 62 billion euros in equity capital flowed into Germany from 2022 to mid-2024. Conclusion: Chancellor Scholz will probably be history after the federal election, although his importance is only enough for a footnote. He will have to share the place with Kurt Georg Kiesinger. Inconspicuous heads of government are the pause signal of history.