The new tripartite government of Germany has already started to work. The social democrat Olaf Scholz has been elected this Wednesday Federal Chancellor for the German Parliament (Bundestag), where his party and his future government allies have the majority. Thus he becomes the top leader of Germany after having been vice chancellor and finance minister of the last great coalition of the country.
It should be noted that Scholz is the new chancellor of a country that leaves behind the 16 years of mandate of Angela Merkel with a renewed ‘traffic light coalition’ at the fore: The SPD (Social Democratic Party), the Freie Demokraten – FDP (The Liberal Party) and the Bündnis 90 die Grünen (The Greens) lead as of this Wednesday one of the major powers of the European Union, and not with few challenges.
“It will be a great moment if we can continue the good cooperation,” said Scholz. It will be a joint government, with eight ministers and eight women ministers. A coalition “reflecting the diversity of Germany”, as Annalena Baerbock, the new Foreign Minister, has indicated. Among the new executive’s commitments, ambitious measures such as the increase in the minimum wage.
A salary that, at present, stands at around 9.6 euros per hour and that, with the commitment of the coalition, will go up to around 12 euros per hour, which means a salary of 1,920 euros per month. The new German government has also agreed lower the minimum voting age at age 16, as well as legalize recreational use of cannabis in the country, whose sale in authorized stores will be reserved for adults.
With this measure they intend to enter 4.7 billion euros in the public coffers. In this same document of commitments and promises, of 177 pages, the plan for the creation of some 27,000 new jobs and the construction of 400,000 flats a year, a quarter of them financed with public funds. Finally, another challenge will be trying to fight the climate crisis by trying to reach 80% renewable energy by 2030.
Scholz is now officially the fourth chancellor of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), after Willy Brandt, Helmut Schmidt and Gerhard Schröder. Each of these heads of government contributed to repositioning Germany in the world, from the situation in which it remained after World War II and up to its current status as a European power. But undoubtedly one of the most remembered profiles will be that of Merkel.
The now ex-chancellor (2005-2021) made history threefold, as the first woman, grown up in the East and also the youngest person who rose to power in Germany -51 years-. He led his country through successive crises, the euro and the immigration. It set the standard in Europe and on a global scale as a reference leader. He leaves office after 5,860 days, ten less than Kohl was, an absolute record of permanence in power in the FRG.
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
