BERLIN | It is a long chapter in contemporary German history which is coming to an end: the Bundestag will elect the Social Democrat Olaf Scholz on Wednesday as chancellor, at the head of an unprecedented parity government, and turn the page on the Merkel era.
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The first woman to lead Germany, Angela Merkel will have remained in office 5,860 days, nine days short of the longevity record of her mentor, Helmut Kohl.
At the end of a very codified process, the conservative leader will hand over the reins of the first European economic power on Wednesday to Olaf Scholz, who will have been both a political opponent but also his vice-chancellor and finance minister.
A little over two months after winning the legislative elections at the end of September, Mr Scholz will be elected by the Bundestag at the head of an unprecedented three-party coalition, formed much faster than expected, by the Social Democrats of the SPD with the Greens and the Liberals.
New momentum
A final step was taken on Monday with the green light given, at 86%, by environmentalists to participation in the coalition. The Social Democrats and the Liberals had already validated the government contract over the weekend.
The handover with Merkel, which will see the center-left return to the helm of the country for the first time since Gerhard Schröder, will take place on Wednesday in the wake of the vote.
For the first time, a parity government will then take office, with women appointed to key ministerial positions such as Foreign Affairs, the Interior or Defense.
“I am particularly proud that women are now at the head of ministries for which it is not traditional” for them to be occupied by women, greeted Monday Mr. Scholz, who has long asserted himself as a feminist.
Despite the unabated popularity of Merkel after four terms, Scholz, who willingly presents himself as his heir, intends to give new impetus.
“I want the 2020s to be those of a new beginning,” he said in the weekly Die Zeit, saying he wanted to implement “the greatest industrial modernization” in recent history “capable of stopping man-made climate change ”.
His government is also promising a very pro-EU policy aimed at “increasing the strategic sovereignty of the European Union” and better defending “common European interests”.
The future head of diplomacy, environmentalist Annalena Baerbock, intends at the same time to take a harder line with regard to authoritarian regimes like China and Russia.
But the future government will not experience a state of grace. He must immediately focus on his first big challenge: the management of the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic, which particularly affects Germany.
Mr. Scholz, elected experienced but not very charismatic, intends in particular to quickly vote the vaccine obligation, supposed to come into force in February or March.
This radical measure, already chosen by the Austrian neighbor, is supported by around two thirds of Germans but it risks hurting a large part of the population, in particular in the former GDR.
In the meantime, Mr Scholz, Ms Merkel and the 16 regions have agreed to new restrictions targeting exclusively the unvaccinated, banned from cultural venues, restaurants and other non-essential businesses.
Unachievable goal
The former mayor of Hamburg, who like his predecessors will reserve his first visit to France, will also have to deal with an unfavorable economic situation, weighed down by weaker growth than announced and the return of inflation.
Mr. Scholz has a plethora of other projects to carry out, which do not necessarily win the approval of the Germans.
The planned increase in the minimum wage, the anticipated exit from coal or the development of renewable energies are popular, according to a survey for the public channel ARD.
Other promises of the “traffic light” coalition such as over-the-counter cannabis, the purchase of armed drones by the Bundeswehr or the right to vote at 16, on the other hand, are only supported by a minority.
And on the climate, despite the “most ambitious program that a government has ever presented”, the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees seems unattainable at this stage, according to a study carried out for the German Climate Alliance.