The honeymoon is over already: Germany’s new government faces backlash before it takes power

In normal circumstances the arrival of a new leader might bring hope, but the mood is sour in Germany as Olaf Scholz takes power, reports Erik Kirschbaum in Berlin

A new era for Germany as Olaf Scholz takes over from Angela Merkel (POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

There is not usually much joy in the air during the dark, wet, and mostly sunless Decembers in Germany. But this year has been especially bleak in Europe’s leading nation with millions in foul moods as just about everything seems to be going wrong.

The moaning and groaning in the increasingly polarised nation has been contagious and can be traced back to another infectious disease – Covid-19. The ominous rise in the virus death toll here is due to an autumn surge that went unchecked for far too long. Exacerbating the downward spiral is that the public seems to be losing faith in their elected leaders at a critical juncture in the pandemic and the country’s post-war history with a change in government next week.

The surly atmosphere on the streets and in shops, where countless disputes over mask-wearing and vaccination status have erupted, is all the more remarkable considering Germany will inaugurate a new centre-left chancellor, Olaf Scholz, on Wednesday – a change of power that will mark the end of 16 years of conservative governance.

Under normal circumstances, the arrival of Scholz’s new government – filled with a fresh-faced crop of progressive young leaders – would be a harbinger of optimism. But not this year. The last time a centre-left government took power under Social Democrat Gerhard Schroeder way back in 1998 there was abundant energy for change in the air after a similarly 16-year-long period of stuffy conservative rule. Not this time.

The centre-left “Ampelkoalition” – or “traffic light coalition” named after their respective party colours of red, green and yellow – will be led by Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) and includes the pro-environment Greens (green banner) and the pro-business Free Democrats (yellow banner). It is only the fourth SPD-led government since 1949.

Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats, which has dominated post-war politics in Germany by holding power for 52 of the last 72 years, lost the September elections and will become the opposition for the first time since 2005. Merkel herself, who is 67, is retiring.

Their lame-duck management of the worsening health crisis since the September elections has only exacerbated the sense of gloom.

“The mood in Germany is really, really lousy at the moment,” says Professor Thomas Jager, a political scientist at Cologne University, in an interview with The Independent. “People have lost faith in any government’s ability to manage this crisis. You can see the anger and frustration for yourself if you’re one of the unfortunate people standing outside in the cold for hours waiting and hoping, sometimes in vain, to get a booster shot at a vaccination centre. Nothing at all seems to work the way it should right now.”

The science-based policies of the country’s federal and state governments seemed to work well earlier in the pandemic, giving Germany a sterling reputation around the world thanks to its low death rates, well-funded healthcare system and hospitals. Germany had managed to stave off the worst of the pandemic until about a month or so ago.

But now, government complacency during the election campaign in the late summer months combined with the failure to manage the crisis now by not making enough shots and vaccine centres available, along with a stubbornly high level of vaccine hesitancy that has left about one-third of the population not jabbed, has created disharmony.

“The government must think we’re all stupid,” said Nikolaus Blome, RTL’s chief political correspondent, in a commentary on the country’s leading commercial network. “Merkel made grievous mistakes in the end and the same goes for her soon-to-be successor Olaf Scholz. He obviously didn’t want to have anything to do with corona policies until he’s in office. But that’s too late for Germany and it’s a very poor start for him.”

Only 18 per cent of Germans are now satisfied with the federal and state governments’ management of the pandemic, while 79 per cent reported being unsatisfied or extremely unsatisfied, according to a Deutschlandtrend opinion poll on Friday for ARD, a TV network. In the last month, there has also been a sharp increase to 60 per cent of those who said the governments’ efforts to fight the pandemic were insufficient.

While the outgoing government waited for the new coalition to form, the country’s infection rate has soared to an alarming average of 442 cases per 100,000 residents per day as of Saturday. This is an increase from levels under 50 in the late summer.

A total of 378 people died in the last 24 hours, nearly 100 more than a week ago and 10 times as many per day in the summer. That is in stark comparison to other European countries like France, Spain and Italy which were hit hard earlier in the pandemic but have much higher vaccination rates now and lower infection levels.

The hospitalisation rate has shot up to around six per 100,000 residents and overwhelmed some hospitals in hard-hit areas in the south and southeast, forcing them to turn to the German air force for help evacuating patients to areas in the north with capacity. The infection rate in the worst-hit area of Saxony has climbed to 2,143 cases per 100,000.

This has prompted many state governments to bar unvaccinated people from indoor public life, from restaurants and cafes to shops and theatres. Bars and clubs are also now being shut down for everyone in many states. Only those who have been vaccinated, recovered or tested are allowed on busses, trains and planes. And the new government is considering introducing mandatory vaccinations early next year despite the unvaccinated complaining that it violates their rights.

“Normally the only argument we have at this time of year is what time to have our Christmas dinner,” wrote Christian Langbehn in a column in Bild newspaper on Saturday. “But this year we’re fighting about vaccination status.

“My sister and her husband decided not to get vaccinated. It’s divided the family. The hostility that my sister and her husband are facing at work, by their friends, in their families has become intolerable. They feel persecuted, discriminated against and are reduced to tears. The vaccination question is dividing our country and tearing apart our families.”

The battle over possible vaccination requirements has become ugly in some areas. Police were called to disperse a mob of several dozen protestors carrying torchlights that had gathered outside a government minister Petra Koepping’s house in Saxony who has been especially vocal about limits on the unvaccinated.

They called themselves “Free Saxony” and chanted “peace, freedom and no dictatorship” in front of her home. Police broke up a crowd of 25 people and fined them for violating Covid rules.