Germany: Scholz Open to New Merz Talks, on Old Ground

The standoff between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and opposition leader Friedrich Merz endured on Saturday, after the collapse of Scholz's three-party coalition this week.

Senior Social Democrat Matthias Miersch told Saturday's edition of the Süddeutsche Zeitung paper that his party ally Scholz would be prepared for another meeting with Merz, a day after Merz said the pair "parted in dissent" last time discussing rather similar questions.

Scholz had "offered, that we reach a concrete understanding with the [Christian Democrats] on which important projects we can still bring forward together in the Bundestag [parliament] — like child allowance payments, statutory nursing care insurance and the [flat-fare monthly rail pass known as the] Deutschlandticket," Miersch said.

"Once this constructive cooperation is assured, we can gladly speak about the timing of the confidence question [in parliament] and early elections," he said.

CDU calling for a confidence motion first, legislation later
The CDU's Carsten Linnemann, Miersch's opposite number as party secretary-general, offered the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung a rather blunt answer on whether his party was willing to support any of Scholz's now minority government's policies before a confidence vote.

"No. The [coalition] is broken. The confidence is gone," he said.

Alexander Dobrindt, of the Bavarian CSU sister party, repeated Merz's accusation that Scholz was trying to get a head start on electioneering.

"Here the suspicion is immediately raised that he [Scholz] is again trying to play games," Dobrindt told the Rheinischer Post when asked about the renewed offer of talks.

What's the cause of the deadlock?
Scholz and Merz's disagreement revolves around the order of business. Scholz wants to legislate first and then set dates.

Merz says he won't support any legislation until Scholz starts the timer on a new vote by posing a confidence motion in parliament. He has called for the chancellor to do so on Wednesday of next week.

Scholz is trying to portray himself as the responsible leader trying to finalize core business, very late in the calendar year, before making way for an orderly early vote.

Because of his coalition's failure to establish a supplementary budget prior to Scholz firing Finance Minister Christian Lindner, which precipitated the coalition break-up, funding for some 2025 plans could be at risk unless this is achieved.

Merz, meanwhile, accuses the chancellor of playing partisan games ahead of the campaign.

On Friday, he said he suspected Scholz was trying to force CDU/CSU politicians to either support or perhaps more likely oppose, legislation — in a bid to then score campaign points based on the party's voting record.

He called this behavior "unworthy" of Scholz's position and the situation facing the country.

However, some Social Democrats, including Labor Minister Hubertus Heil, have questioned which party might be grandstanding on the issue and implied Merz should also consider his responsibilities to the electorate.

"It's not just lawmakers in the governing parties that bear responsibility in a democracy, but also those in opposition factions," Heil told two Stuttgart-based newspapers on Saturday.

Can't Merz take matters into his own hands?
As opposition leader, Merz is probably not presently in a position to eject Scholz's minority government via his lawmakers or sympathizers.

He cannot call a vote of no-confidence in Scholz's two-party coalition that would trigger an election under German rules — that power rests solely with the chancellor.

He could only call on lawmakers to vote in what in German is called a "constructive" vote of confidence.

This would require lawmakers to also declare confidence in Merz taking over as replacement chancellor for the remainder of the term without triggering an early vote — a motion that in all likelihood would not enjoy majority support either.