The new Chancellor and Government of this European Union (EU) member state have been warned that they will face extremely difficult tasks as they have to lead the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic and restore economic growth while trying to escape from the “shadow” of Angela Merkel - one of the world's favourite and most powerful female leaders.
The “traffic light” alliance of three parties with the majority of seats in the German Federal Parliament, including the Social Democrats, the liberal Free Democrats and the Greens, is rushing to negotiate the establishment of a new government.
Volker Wissing, general secretary of the liberal Free Democrats (FDP) announced that the three-party coalition will conduct the process of forming a cabinet in the second week of December with Olaf Scholz being the sole candidate for the position of Chancellor. With this roadmap, coalition agreements and positions in the new government must be completed in November.
Analysts have expressed concern about the “hard-to-fill” gap between the three political parties in the coalition in terms of their views and ways of running the country or the “bargaining” for the important seats in the new government.
In order to get the “nod” of the FDP, the other two parties may need to “give up” the position of finance minister, always been targeted by the liberal Free Democrats. In contrast, can the Greens be “pampered” by the Social Democrats and liberal Free Democrats in terms of policies on social security and environmental protection, which are very costly.
In the middle of next week, the three parties will form 22 joint working groups to develop a roadmap to run the country and “drive” this economic locomotive of the EU. With a massive programme and many different points of view, the working groups will have to work hardly to reach agreement and common stance on important issues before November 10.
In order to receive a vote in favour of a new government agreement, the Liberal Democrats must vote at an extraordinary party convention, while the Greens will poll members in online form. So far, all three parties in the “traffic light” coalition have shown their determination to join forces to form a new government before Christmas.
Accordingly, the new government in Germany will have many favourable conditions, but will also face many intertwined challenges, in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic still negatively affecting many areas of this EU’s economic locomotive, especially as the nearly 84 million Germans were so familiar with Angela Merkel’s style over the past 16 years.
