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Berlin (dpa-AfX)-Two weeks before the Bundestag election, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Union Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz (CDU) had a tough exchange of blows on dealing with the AfD and the migration policy. In their first of two planned TV duels, both showed themselves irreconcilable on other topics such as economic, financial and social policy.
Scholz once again accused Merz in ARD and ZDF a “broken word” and a “taboo break” because the Union in the Bundestag enforced its five-point plan for migration with the votes of the AfD. He trusts the CDU chairman to enter into a coalition with the AfD after the election. “This is my serious concern.”
Merz: “There will not be this collaboration”
Merz rejected this: “There will not be this collaboration,” he said. “We will not do this, we (Union and AfD) separate worlds in the factual issues.”
The joint coordination of the Union, FDP and AfD had led to a scandal in the Bundestag at the end of January. Merz brought a bill two days later due to deviations in his own faction and in the FDP not by the Bundestag.
According to a survey, only every second voter trusts the Union’s promise that there will be no cooperation with the AfD. According to the current ZDF polite barometer, 50 percent believe that the CDU will stick to its 2018 party congress and will continue to reject political cooperation with the AfD at the federal level, 43 percent are opposite.
Scholz: Will continue “hard course” at Migration
When it comes to migration, Scholz promised for the time after the election to continue a “hard course”. Germany should not accept violent acts such as the Aschaffenburg. “We can never put up with such acts and therefore it has to be traded clearly and decisively.”
The plans of the Union to reject migrants at the border rejected Scholz as illegal and warned of a “European crisis”. He also urged Merz to agree to the government presented by the government to implement the European asylum reform. “Why should you be so stupid”, not to do this, he said.
Merz: “What you tell here is a fairytale lock”
Merz accused Scholz of “leaving well over two million irregular migrants to Germany”. This corresponds more than the inhabitants of the city of Hamburg, according to the CDU chairman. “You can’t get it in your coalition as it would be necessary,” he said Scholz. The Chancellor no longer perceives reality in the federal and state governments when it comes to migration. “You don’t live in this world,” said Merz. “What you tell here is a fairytale lock.”
Economic policy second major argument
Scholz and Merz also got together in economic policy. Merz accused Scholz of a disturbed perception in the crisis situation of the German economy. “I am somewhat shaken what perception you describe the condition of our economy here tonight,” said the Union Chancellor candidate. He added directly to the Chancellor: “This has nothing to do with reality out there – honestly, Mr. Scholz.” Scholz had previously stated that there was no de -industrialization in Germany.
Merz opposed Scholz that there was an insolvency wave in the country like never in the past 15 years. “50,000 companies went bankrupt during their term in Germany, almost half of them last year,” said Merz. Scholz admitted: “There’s something going on and we have to do something.” However, the Chancellor referred to an increasing number of employment. In addition, there is the second lowest unemployment among all economic democracies of the G7 group in Germany.
Controversy also for debt brake and taxes
Scholz pleaded for a reform of the debt brake. He referred to the need for increasing defense spending in order to be able to comply with NATO’s two percent goal-this means two percent of the gross domestic product for defense. This could not be achieved without a reform of the debt brake. Merz countered that billions more new debts are possible with the existing debt brake. “We also have an obligation to our children, they have to pay it back at some point,” said Merz.
Scholz defended the SPD plans that very rich should pay more taxes. He thinks that just. The top tax rate should increase by two percentage points, but much “later” is raised than today, so that families with very high incomes are also relieved. Merz said the income tax was also paid by partnerships and the middle class. Through higher taxes, the bankruptcy wave in Germany would go up again.
Differences also become clear in social policy
Merz confirmed the intention to fundamentally reform the citizens’ allowance. “The system has to be changed. We want a new basic security.” Merz calculated that the German state could save at least 1.5 billion euros with 100,000 citizens’ girders who came back to the labor market. In Germany there are 1.7 million citizens’ money recipients who could work.
Scholz pointed out that there was a law to tighten sanctions for citizen benefit recipients in the Bundestag, which can be decided “at the latest after the election”. He stands for very clear civil allowance rules, emphasized Scholz. “I am the politician who stands the most for hard sanctions in civil allowance in Germany and also with previous basic security,” he said.
Scholz attacking – Merz uses direct address
Scholz appeared significantly more aggressive in the duel than Merz, called his statements “ridiculous” several times and accused him of performing “speech bubbles”. Merz parried the chancellor’s attacks calmly. He spoke to Scholz directly several times and asked him questions.
CSU boss Markus Söder mocked after the TV duel in the ARD show “Caren Miosga”: “Olaf Scholz looked as if he had drunk five Red Bull beforehand.” For Söder it was clear that Merz was “the clear and clear winner”. The SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil regarded the TV duel at “Caren Miosga” as a “good duel in the democratic center”. The Chancellor was “very strong”.
With all the hardness of the duel, there was also something conciliatory at the very beginning. Merz said he hadn’t resented Scholz that at the beginning of the election campaign he called him “Fritze Merz”. In the end, both opponents said goodbye.
Merz with a big lead in the surveys
The 90-minute duel in public law TV channels at the best broadcast was moderated by the talk show professionals Maybrit Illner and Sandra Maischberger. The television duel marks the start of the hot final phase of the election campaign, into which Merz and the CDU/CSU go in the surveys with a large lead.
The Union currently comes to 29 to 34 percent, Scholz and the SPD, on the other hand, are far from 15 to 18 percent only in third place behind the AfD. The trend reversal hoped for by the SPD has so far been left. Scholz now only has 14 days to catch up with the gap of 11 to 17 percentage points in the surveys. It is also far back with personal popularity values.
Only approved the pen and block
The two chancellor candidates were allowed, the pen and notepad to take their standing desks to the TV studio in Berlin-Adlershof-nothing else. Merz pulled a yellow note from his jacket at one point to quote Scholz. According to the broadcasters, this was not a violation of the rules.
There was no audience. In contrast to earlier duels, the answers were not shown any watch. However, the director paid attention to balance and wanted to inform the moderators with an imbalance.
In a week, Merz and Scholz meet Weidel and Habeck
In the next two weeks until the election on February 23, the Chancellor and top candidates will meet in numerous other television debates. There will be a novelty next Sunday (February 16): Then Scholz and Merz will have a debate with Robert Habeck (Greens) and Alice Weidel (AfD) at the private broadcasters RTL and NTV. On February 19, four days before the election, there should be another duel between Scholz and Merz at Welt-TV and “Bild.de “./Mfi/sk/dp/zb