16 December 2024
Opposition leader Merz criticizes SPD: ‘You have embarrassed Germany’
Opposition CDU leader Friedrich Merz accused the ruling coalition of hypocrisy. He spoke before a vote of confidence in the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
“The Chancellor talks a lot about respect, but it seems his respect ends where other political opinions begin,” he said. Said that this helped him achieve all this.
He further asked why, if Scholz saw so much scope for progress, the SPD had accomplished none of it “in 22 of the last 26 years” when it was part of Germany’s ruling coalition.
“Where have you been for the last 22 years?” he asked.
Merz criticized Scholz’s perceived lack of clarity and assertiveness on military funding, record-high inflation and response to the economic crisis, and global issues over the past several years.
“You have embarrassed Germany before the EU and its other allies,” Merz said.
He also praised the FDP for trying to prevent the ruling SPD and Greens from raising taxes. Arguments over the national budget played a major role in the collapse of the Scholz coalition.
Returning to the topic of the economy, Merz also said that Germans do not work enough, citing neighboring Switzerland as a positive example, where people work “on average 200 hours more” per year. The conservative leader said that working more hours was necessary to “make Germany more competitive”.
These statements were strongly opposed by other MPs.
