When Tuesday 20. The Bundestag met at an extraordinary gathering in its old, after the election was already obsolete, the composition was put to the vote not only the joint CDU/CSU and SPD task on higher debt limit, including the revision of the Constitution. It was besides vote on fundamental political change of direction, “a fresh era”, as Boris Pistorius, Minister of Defence of the SPD, said in his speech.
On time. a red-black coalition that will most likely be formed, the chadeci under Friedrich Merz make a return on financial policy. This has provoked accusations even in his own ranks of repeating red-green government errors dressed in fresh robes.
And that's not all: urgent motions against voting in the old Bundestag line-up, submitted to the national Constitutional Court by members of the FDP, AfD, Left organization and BSW, failed. Even if this procedure is formally legal, as Thorsten Frei, president of the CDU Club, any fear that it lacks legitimacy. Johannes Vogel, president of the FDP club, even said that CDU/CSU and SPD plan harms the country's political culture.
The conditions under which parliamentarians negotiated nothing but legitimacy of democracy were so highly hard — precisely a week before the constitution of the new, 21st German Bundestag. In fact, however, the organisation of this extraordinary peculiar parliament gathering was not the consequence of the savagery of democratic customs.
Rather, apart from the degree to which Friedrich Merz miscalculated his election promises, this is the effect of the uncertain majority that Germany has had to contend with since the AfD was created. erstwhile crucial political decisions await us, including the relaxation of the debt brake in the constitution, the shaky foundations on which democracy stands become very clear, and the situation in the political center is becoming increasingly tense.
Great Decision
Change of course Merza coincides withU.S. turn around under president Donald Trump from Europe and the Western order of values. As Boris Pistorius put it: “We Europeans must grow up.
In his speech, Merz made it clear what he thought this meant: “Our own defence capacity in the coming years, possibly in the coming decades, is not the only thing that depends on our decision today. Our allies in the European Union and NATO are looking at us today, just as our opponents and enemies of our democratic and principled order," he said. To defend this order, Merz announces Development of a fresh European Defence Community.
Britta Hasselmann, leader of the Greens parliamentary group She refused to accept the argument about the global political situation. Merz's change of opinion could not be explained by political escalation in the US and events in the Oval Office in which Trump and his vice president J. D. Vance in an unprecedented way humiliated Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenski. According to Hasselmann, the political consequences of Trump's re-election were clear earlier.
The Greens had reservations not only about the justification proposed by the chadeks. They felt “disappointed” by the Left Party. In her nuanced speech, for which she received a long circular of applause from her faction, however, Hasselmann managed to get back to the heart of the matter: how can you win in protecting safety and peace order. so Greens do not deal with how to "defeat the government" but what is best for the country.
For Lars Klingbeil, the leader of the SPD, the historical importance of that day was obvious. He was talking about a fresh beginning, leadership responsibility, historical compromise and essential investments. However, he besides stressed:
In his speech, Merz repeated it almost word for word: “The money itself will not solve any of the problems that exist.
In this way, a black and red signal was sent: No 1 here (allegedly) wants to open the door to meaningless public debt. “The investment in infrastructure possible thanks to today’s amendment of the Basic Act does not reduce the request to consolidate public budgets,” said Merz. This is simply a concession to his many critics who have late felt that Chadecs completely forgot what financial policy they erstwhile represented.
PAP/EPA/FILIP SINGERFriedrich Merz, CDU leader, in the Bundestag. 18 March 2025.
The calculations of Merz and Klingbeil, though difficult, yet worked. They got the essential two-thirds majority for the draft amendment of the Constitution. The biggest obstacle in the coalition negotiations between SPD and CDU/CSU has already been overcome.
He won't change that lament Alexander Gauland, Honorary president of the AfDWho in his speech admitted he was arrogant of his party. It is uncommon for “citizen decency to be replaced so rapidly by political cynicism,” said Gauland, referring to the chadeks who in his opinion lead Germany to “fall”. — Since this week the CDU Merza is continuation of the Merkel CDU — disciplined the chapeka 84-year-old AfD politician. Gauland did not mention a word about the war in Ukraine, Trump or the threat from Russia.
Meanwhile, it seems that SPD has awakened from Olaf Scholz's hesitation mode. “Everyone who hesitates present and has no courage denies reality,” Pistorius said. This will most likely not be a problem for the future government. The strength of the AfD parliamentary group itself, which ranks second in the fresh Bundestag, confronts democratic parties with a fresh reality that will force them to accomplish political stability.
Merz will gotta regain the trust of disappointed voters. However, citizens will avoid at least continuous arguments about the appropriate way of financing the future governmentwhich plunged the erstwhile coalition. And what Merz means exactly, in the milady of mentioning the "comprehensive modernisation of our community", can inactive be 1 of the more breathtaking questions.
