CHANCELLOR ANGELA Merkel’s dissent-riven government has bickered its way into the new year, disagreeing on everything from tax-cut promises to the future of Germany’s controversial Afghanistan mission.
Dr Merkel’s junior partner, the Free Democrats (FDP), got in the first blow of 2010 by suggesting the German leader and her Christian Democrats (CDU) have lost their edge after four years of consensus rule in a grand coalition with political rivals. “ an experience not without consequences for the CDU,” remarked Guido Westerwelle, foreign minister and FDP leader.
After what officials close to Dr Merkel admit has been an “inelegant start” to her second term, Mr Westerwelle has criticised CDU stalling on his election promise of new tax cuts worth €24 billion annually.
“The CDU-FDP government has to bring about a mentality shift in Germany,” said Mr Westerwelle, “away from growing tax demands from the state . . . that are developing expropriation tendencies.” But rather than finding agreement in the CDU, the FDP’s promises have been dismissed by its larger coalition partner as irresponsible in a year when Berlin will have to borrow €100 billion to balance its books.
“The that, in opposition, demanded . . . a constitutional ban on new debt now has no problem borrowing billions to finance tax cuts,” complained Wolfgang Böhmer, CDU governor of the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt. The FDP tax cut plans have been dismissed as premature by the CDU’s sister party, Bavaria’s CSU.
Another bone of contention is the future of the Nato mission to Afghanistan ahead of an international conference later this month.
Dr Merkel has declined to be drawn on a reported US request for over 2,000 extra German soldiers. Ahead of the conference, Berlin’s agreement on deploying further troops appears tied to agreement on a concrete pull-out plan.
Ignoring Dr Merkel’s studied silence on the matter, Mr Westerwelle has threatened to stay away if it is “purely a troop-deployment conference”. His coalition partners in the CSU snapped back that Mr Westerwelle, a foreign policy novice, won’t be missed.
Meanwhile, the CSU and FDP complain that Dr Merkel is keeping them in the dark about the next four years. “Merkel has to set a decisive course,” said CSU official Hans-Peter Friedrich at the weekend. “On key issues, she has to make clear what she wants.”