Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: Schwesig urges traffic lights to do more for rural regions

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State leader Schwesig: “Today many of these voters are disappointed by the traffic light coalition’s policies.”

Photo: Bernd von Jutrczenka / dpa

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's state leader Manuela Schwesig (SPD) has clearly criticized the traffic light coalition led by her party colleague Olaf Scholz at the federal level.

In an interview with the “Tagesspiegel” newspaper, Schwesig spoke of an “advance of trust” that the SPD had received with Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz in the 2021 federal election.

“Today, many of these voters are disappointed with the traffic light coalition’s policies,” said the state leader.

Many people have lost trust in current politics.

Specifically, Schwesig complained that there was still too much arguing in the traffic light coalition "despite assurances to the contrary that it would do better."

The citizens wanted “a predictable government that is unified and tells them clearly and in a timely manner what happens next,” said Schwesig.

"Sometimes we find out about new laws and proposals overnight."

As an example, the state leader, who governs Schwerin together with the Left, cited the heating law and planned subsidy cuts for farmers, which would make people feel “taken by surprise.”

"That needs to change.

It is the responsibility of all Democrats to ensure that things do not continue as they have been for the past twelve months.”

Schwesig also called on Chancellor Scholz to seek direct contact with citizens more often.

“I would like Olaf Scholz to hold citizen dialogues more often in the future than before, despite his enormous demands,” said the Prime Minister.

“Every conversation he has helps.”

Basically, Schwesig complained that the traffic light coalition was not reaching rural areas with its policies.

"The current protests are not about agricultural diesel alone, but about the attitude to life: You don't care about us!" said Schwesig, referring to the farmers' protests.

Scholz is currently struggling with weak poll numbers.

According to ARD's "Deutschlandtrend" from January, only 19 percent are satisfied with the SPD politician's work.

According to the broadcaster, this is the lowest value since these chancellor surveys began in 1997. In general, the values ​​​​of the traffic light parties in the surveys have collapsed, for the SPD to around 13 to 15 percent.

There has also been recent criticism of the Chancellor within the SPD.

fek/dpa