On December 8th local time, German Social Democratic Party Prince candidate Olaf Scholz was officially elected as the German Chancellor. How to lead Germany to meet many challenges will test the political wisdom of the new government. Beijing News mapped
On December 8, local time, German Social Democratic Party Prime Minister candidate Olaf Scholz was officially elected as the German Chancellor. Subsequently, Scholz went to the Presidential Palace, Meijing Palace, accepted the letter of appointment of the Prime Minister issued by German President German Steinmeier, and was sworn in to the Bundestag.
This means that Scholz officially took over the caretaker government Prime Minister Merkel and began to exercise government power. Germany has since entered the Scholz era. Merkel is only 9 days away from breaking Germany's record of the longest term as prime minister.
Scholz and Merkel belong to two political parties. political spectrum is different, and the Scholz era is definitely different from the Merkel era. However, from Scholz's personal style and diplomatic stance, he has many aspects that are very similar to Merkel, and is even called the "male version of Merkel" because of this - from this perspective, Scholz's governing style probably won't make us feel abrupt.
On December 8th local time, Scholz (center) accepted congratulations after being successfully elected as the German Chancellor in the German Bundestag vote. Photo/Xinhua News Agency
Working with Merkel
has a mutual trust relationship that transcends the party
During Merkel's 16 years in power, he has formed a coalition government many times. Under the framework of the coalition government, Scholz has twice entered the Merkel cabinet and held important positions.
From 2007 to 2009, Scholz served as Minister of Labor and Social Affairs in the Merkel administration. This ministry is the largest department with the largest fiscal budget among all German government ministries, and it is in charge of complicated affairs. When Scholz was minister, it was around the time when the international financial crisis and the European debt crisis of broke out.
Before the Merkel government came to power, the Social Democratic Party where Scholz was located had been implementing a reform plan called the "2010 Platform", including reducing pensions, reducing unemployment assistance, and abolishing some projects in universal medical insurance. Against the backdrop of the international financial crisis, this reform has the risk of social unrest. But the flexible employment policy implemented by Scholz during his term has prevented Germany from large-scale layoffs and helped Merkel enhance his voice in EU .
After 2017, Scholz served as deputy prime minister and finance minister in Merkel's cabinet, which was so trusted by Merkel that the SPD criticized it for being too close to Merkel, and used this as a reason to block Scholz in the 2019 SPD leader election.
But Scholz didn't care and even hinted that he was Merkel's true heir. Merkel, in turn, praised Scholz for being “reliable.” This can be said to a certain extent that after years of working together, Scholz and Merkel have established a mutual trust relationship beyond the party.
On December 8th local time, a member of the new German federal government was sworn in. Photo/Xinhua News Agency
"Scholz Law"
The first one is "We never get angry"
Merkel received widespread praise before leaving office, partly because her personal style is relatively restrained. At this point, Scholz is also very similar to her.
Media reports that when Scholz was the chairman of the Social Democratic Party in Hamburg, he and his colleagues posted an A4 paper in front of the TV with the words "Scholz Law" written on it. The first one is "We are never angry, we are never hysterical."
Scholz himself once said that hard work is more important than boasting. Because of his personal style, the local media of hamburger gave him a nickname called "robot".
Scholtz's personal style is also reflected in the Prime Minister's inauguration ceremony on December 8 - when taking the oath, Scholz omitted the last sentence of the traditional oath: "God bless." Previously, he also gave up this religious oath at the inauguration ceremony of his role as mayor of Hamburg and German Finance Minister, and accurately defended his image as a classic Social Democratic Party leftist.
, but Scholz is also very good at taking advantage of the situation.Merkel's reputation reached its peak before leaving office, and during the campaign, Scholz always made himself into Merkel's successor.
For example, in an interview, Scholz would pose a hand with his hands together, which is Merkel's classic diamond gesture, and would also quote Merkel's often said: "People know what kind of person I am."
On December 8, local time, at the Parliament Building in Berlin, the capital of Germany, the outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel (second from left) talked on the voting agenda. Photo/Xinhua News Agency
Policy toward China
"will be more similar to Merkel"
After Scholz took office as German Chancellor, a question that people generally care about is whether Sino-German relations can still be as stable as the Merkel era.
Social Democratic Party, Green Party and Liberal Democratic Party coalition governments led by Scholz are the first tripartite coalition government in Germany in more than 70 years. Previously, the content related to China in the three-party joint cabinet formation agreement attracted widespread attention from foreign media and was considered to be a coalition agreement with "the toughest wording against China in history". The new Foreign Minister Bellbock, who was born in the Green Party, also made a series of inappropriate remarks about China a few days ago.
However, German media recently revealed that Scholz had previously sent a message to China through EU Council Chairman Michel , expressing his hope to continue Merkel's "pragmatic" route to China. At the joint press conference on December 7, Scholz also emphasized the need to seek cooperation with China when talking about China, and the wording was significantly different from that of the Green Party and the Liberal Democratic Party.
The relations between major powers have always been the "Prime Minister's Agenda" in Germany, and there is not much room for the cabinet department to play. Although the position of Foreign Minister is one of the most eye-catching positions, it cannot make the top five in the fiscal budget arrangements of various German cabinet departments, which also limits Belbok's possible "scrambling" behavior.
In fact, the people around Scholz have shown this many times. Just last month, Scholz's close ally and Social Democratic Party Secretary-General Klinbel said: "Compared with the United States' policy toward China, I think Scholz's policy toward China will be more similar to Merkel." Last week, SPD foreign policy spokesman Schmid also said: "Don't expect too much change."
In fact, maintaining a stable Sino-German relationship like the Merkel era will not only have a bonus point for Scholz, but will undoubtedly be more conducive to him leading the new government to solve many challenges facing Germany.
Special contributor to the Beijing News | Xu Lifan (columnist)
editing | He Rui
proofreading | Zhao Lin
