Imagine: You’re on a deep sea fishing trip with friends. And none of your troops has ever been a ship captain, none of them has ever navigated – and none of them has ever fished on the high seas. Then the storm came…
So, now you know why Captain Friedrich Merz, as Chancellor, experienced such a severe crisis so quickly and why the entire country was in a state of seasickness. Merz moved into the Chancellery with a (respectable) group for whom government, politics and major crisis management were unfortunately new territory: including the head of the Chancellery and the Chancellor’s office manager, who did more than just look after the calendar.
Crises, disagreements and even serious debates are normal in coalitions. What is not normal is how the Chancellor’s staff cannot solve it. Also not helping: the leader of the parliamentary group, Spahn, is not only at odds with the parliamentary group.
Additionally: the Merz squad is politically appropriate on the beer scene. Merz and Spahn – only ONE CDU camp. There is no room for the Sacred Heart faction in the party.
It didn’t matter how this showdown ended, whether Merz continued with or without the SPD: he and his troops would not be able to advance any further in the rough seas.
