“The government has a majority”

Olaf Scholz ridicules the Union’s demand to put the question of confidence in the Bundestag as an “opposition idea”.

Berlin – The Chancellor is being scornful. Olaf Scholz (SPD) ridicules the Union’s demand to ask the Bundestag for a vote of confidence as an “opposition idea”. The opposition uses this phrase “every three weeks”, said Scholz in a summer interview with ZDF on Sunday evening. He wants to continue until autumn 2025 without this instrument, which could also lead to the premature collapse of the traffic light coalition. “The government has a majority.”

The TV appearance was the climax of a small media offensive by the Chancellor after the devastating election defeat for the traffic light parties in Saxony and Thuringia. Scholz gave several interviews and toured his constituency in Brandenburg accompanied by a group of journalists. His message was always: It’s not that bad, we’ll win the next election again. He said he firmly believes that “the SPD and I will get such a strong mandate in 2025 that we will also lead the next government.” “Governing is not getting any easier, so we should do it.”

Despite low poll numbers: Scholz remains confident

The polls do not currently support this. The Insa Institute currently sees the SPD at 15 percent, accompanied by the Greens (10) and the FDP (4). On the other side are the Union (31), AfD (19), BSW (10) and the Left (3). 70 percent are dissatisfied with Scholz’s work. In the ZDF political barometer, the research group Wahlen adds that 77 percent consider the Chancellor to be a weak leader.

Scholz hardly reacts to such data. “Orienting politics with polls is never a good idea.” He has “already won several elections, although polls did not suggest this.” He also takes part in thought experiments in the SPD, with Defense Minister Boris Pistorius to run for office, unmoved: “Boris Pistorius, like many others, wants me to run for chancellor again. I see it the same way.”

In a complex sentence, he simply calls on the traffic light coalition once again to work together better. It is now important “that we find a style together in which the fact that parties govern together, who perhaps did not think of it when they were born, still turns out to be something that can be achieved.”

Scholz: Possible peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine

However, Scholz is taking a new nuance in one respect: He is speaking more openly about possible peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. “I believe that this is the moment when we need to discuss how we can get out of this war situation and achieve peace more quickly than it currently seems,” he said on Sunday evening on ZDF. Scholz is also referring explicitly to the eastern elections: the election results “also have something to do with the fact that some citizens do not agree with our support of Ukraine.” He will continue to do everything he can to ensure that Ukraine is supported. But he will not get involved in “hasty action.”