🇩🇪 1st anniversary of the Ampel coalition 🚦

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

Exactly one year ago, the 20th German Bundestag elected Olaf Scholz the 9th chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, two days after the SPD, the Greens and the FDP precipitately singed their ill-considered coalition agreement.
Subsequent to Olaf's swearing-in, his 16 ministers - the same number of portfolios for either gender - took their oaths of office.
One minister has already been replaced after she has had several citizens on her conscience thanks to her utter failure as a state minister of RLP. Of course, as was expected, none of our German left-wing members related that incident to us. (Well, Astatine actually did, but he refused to explicitly mention her name.)
Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck learnt the hard way what realpolitik really means once he was forced to kowtow to despots. Foreign Minister ACAB now has to affect solidarity with the Iranian women despite having agitated for sharia for decades. Omid Nouripour and Mrs. Doppelwumms supported ecoterrorist groups such as Last Generation, Extinction Rebellion, Fridays for Future prior to the election, now they have to pretend to disavow any connection with them.
Furthermore, the FDP - to Atlas' amazement - turned out to be a right-liberal and neoliberal party. Who knew?
They had to learn to ditch their brand essence, the black zero™. Plus, Querdenker Kubicki with his Trumpish manner acts as a harassing fire thwarting the smooth running of the governmental workflow.
The only point of intersection between those three parties with irreconcilable positions is not even an realizable goal as international law frustrates that one common ambition.

In order to mark this festive occasion, each and every siren throughout the country will be wailing at eleven o'clock sharp.

Outcome of the 2021 federal election:



Latest poll:

[Antonio the Sixth]

Great job slow-walking military aid to Ukraine and watering down any efforts at cutting off Russia's energy exports, guys!

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Underwhelming!

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Considering the tough climate, four traffic lights.

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

Considering the tough climate, four traffic lights.

Do you think the coalition will endure over the whole legislative term?

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

Considering the tough climate, four traffic lights.

Do you think the coalition will endure over the whole legislative term?

I instinctively said No because of how disparate the coalition seemed. But German political culture emphasizes stability and I can't think of any occasion over the past thirty years that a German federal governing coalition broke up before the four years was up. So I've changed my mind.

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

I instinctively said No because of how disparate the coalition seemed. But German political culture emphasizes stability and I can't think of any occasion over the past thirty years that a German federal governing coalition broke up before the four years was up. So I've changed my mind.

Well, Schröder's coalition broke up in 2005, one year before the regular elections. The reason for that was his sheer unpopularity owing to his neoliberal Hartz reforms, which led to his SPD losing one state election after another, thus losing the majority in the Bundesrat.

[President Punxsutawney Phil]

I instinctively said No because of how disparate the coalition seemed. But German political culture emphasizes stability and I can't think of any occasion over the past thirty years that a German federal governing coalition broke up before the four years was up. So I've changed my mind.

Well, Schröder's coalition broke up in 2005, one year before the regular elections. The reason for that was his sheer unpopularity owing to his neoliberal Hartz reforms, which led to his SPD losing one state election after another, thus losing the majority in the Bundesrat.

I don't think that really counts, right? The coalition was SPD-Green, and it's not like the Greens pulling their support brought about the end of the government. It was Schroder deciding to call an election early, though German methods.

[Isaak]

2/5 seems appropriate.

Too much controversy, a largely invisible chancellor, several scandal-ridden ministers (looking at you, Christine Lambrecht), inconsistent and often short-sighted policies, and not much of a clear political agenda. Would be 1/5 by usual standards but the Ampel was also dealt a pretty bad hand with the whole Ukraine crisis.

[Anzeigenhauptmeister]

I don't think that really counts, right? The coalition was SPD-Green, and it's not like the Greens pulling their support brought about the end of the government. It was Schroder deciding to call an election early, though German methods.

Ah, now I get it. Yes, the red-green coalition did not break up in the strict sense of the word, unlike the red-yellow Schmidt coalition.

But I wonder if the upcoming state election results could trigger a kneejerk reaction from the FDP.
For the SPD things look black, too; they are likely to lose the Red City Hall to the Greens or even to the CDU after the snap election. Moreover, the polls for the 2023 Bavarian state election even threaten an elimination of the SPD from a state parliament for the first time in the history of the FRG. Should that really happen, Scholz is definitely going to propose a vote of confidence.

[CumbrianLefty]

Where's that "not great, not terrible" meme?

[𝕭𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖆 𝕸𝖎𝖓𝖔𝖑𝖆]

SPD plus Greens combining for the same share of the vote as in 2021 while the FDP is in freefall seems appropriate given Scholz is largely implementing red-green priorities and from what I've read the FDP has no idea how to sell this. Still underwhelming but I gave this government 4/5 Ampels.

[Estrella]

Two Ampels, one of which is just for breaking the sense of inevitability about the thousand-year CDU Reich. And even for that we can thank Laschet more than anyone in the Ampel.

[Clarko95 📚💰📈]

3.5 Ampels, and yes.

I am pleasantly surprised at how many important laws have been passed in just the first year, and many reforms that are desperately needed have been either enacted (e.g. the drive to get 80% of electricity from renewables by 2030, ending the policy of deliberate wage suppression, improvements to childcare centers, rebuilding Germany's defense, pensions, housing benefits, unemployment reforms, etc.) or set in motion (e.g. immigration & citizenship reform, transportation policy, etc.). It's a major change from 16 years of the CDU-led governments that basically seemed hellbent on keeping Germany frozen in time in 2005. This progress is despite all the delays, infighting, and disagreements that have been happening.

Of course, foreign policy has been the big disappointment here. While Germany has delivered a lot of material aid and taken in over 1 million refugees, there have been too many delays regarding the energy situation and the full potential of Germany's ability to provide aid has not been exploited, as has already been mentioned. This needs to change ASAP.

I am cautiously optimistic that the FDP will not pull out before 2025. Probably like 2010-2013, they will just accept bouncing around the 4-5% level and try to get as much of their agenda through and hope that it's enough to survive when they have to face the voters again.