In the spotlight: the faces of the new German government
Audio 05:06
The new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz introduced his government ministers at an SPD press conference in Berlin, December 6, 2021. © AP / Markus Schreiber
By: Sébastien Duhamel Follow
5 mins
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They are on the front page of
Die Welt
. Sixteen ministers and the new Chancellor Olaf Scholz, from what is called in Germany a “
coalition in traffic lights
”. The term comes up in all the newspapers, it refers to the colors of the three parties that make up this coalition: red for the social democrats of the SPD, yellow for the liberals of the FPD and green for the ecologists. Three colors reminiscent of the traffic lights that we cross on the road, this is why our German friends speak of a “
traffic light
” coalition
.
In any case, this road is now clear for the government which will take office this Wednesday, December 8.
Indeed, explains the
Frankurter Allgemeine
, the three parties yesterday approved the coalition agreement entitled “
Dare to make more progress
”.
A 177-page document that the partners have also chosen to sign today in an “
emblematic
” place, specifies the newspaper, namely the Berlin Futurium, an exhibition center on the theme of building the future.
A government presented as equal
In terms of the future, in addition to the eminently topical pandemic, this government is first and foremost committed to climate protection. And that's good, because a poll relayed by the
Süddeutsche Zeitung
tells us that climate protection is precisely the area where the Germans expect the most progress, they are 34% to declare it. In front of health with 31%, or far ahead of questions of foreign policy for example, for which 7% of Germans say they hope for progress.
Progress has already been made in terms of parity in any case, it is a government that wants to be equal: "
The proportion of women is higher than ever at the start of the legislature
", underlines the
Süddeutsche Zeitung
. There are eight men for eight women, some of whom reach key positions like the social democrat Christine Lambrecht at the Ministry of Defense, "
the woman in whom the soldiers should have confidence
", as she describes it.
Die Welt
, or even the ecologist Annalena Baerbock who inherits the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, small flat for the
Frankfurter Allgemeine
: "
During the presentation, Chancellor Scholz said that parity was important to him
”, yet yesterday at his side“
the majority of cabinet members were men
”.
Too bad, but whatever the case, the parity of this government is the main point retained by the international press.
This is how it is presented on the front page of
El País
in Spain, and it is also on this point that
La Repubblica
insists in Italy.
The
British
"
chaos
"
of the Kabul evacuation
When the front page of the
New York Times
, in the United States, warns us of "
an imminent food disaster
" which could affect millions of people in Afghanistan, the British press returns to the "
chaos
" of the evacuation of Kabul . British newsstands echo a whistleblower Raphael Marshall, a former diplomat stationed in the Afghan capital at the time of the evacuation last summer, when the Taliban regained power. He was auditioned Monday, December 6 by the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Commons, and his revelations are on the front page of
The Independent
as well as the
Guardian,
which tells us of a "
devastating story
". Tens of thousands of Afghans were unable to access British aid "
because of the confusion within the Foreign Office
". “
Bureaucratic chaos, ministerial interventions, lack of planning
”… All this would have led to “
leaving people to die at the hands of the Taliban
”.
The former diplomat says, for example, that at the height of the crisis, one afternoon, he was alone working in the evacuation office.
He claims to have had to make "
life and death decisions
" on cases of which he knew little or nothing.
According to him, between 75 and 150,000 people requested the British evacuation and "
less than 5
% of these people finally received assistance
".
Revelations already made this summer, to his superiors, and which led to the opening of an internal investigation.
The results have not been released, but the
Guardian
understands it may have led to the landing of Dominic Raab.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs has since inherited a new cabinet.
The diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics
When politics comes into sport ... Another file in the international press, the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympics. To read in front page of the
Frankfurter Allgemeine
or the Belgian daily
Le Soir
like so many others, because the file obviously interests the whole world. "
For months,"
explains
Le Soir
, "
the American government had been looking for the best way to position itself with regard to the Winter Games, this popular and global event organized in February 2022 by a country that it accuses of perpetrating a" genocide "in Xinjiang
". Well here we are, the White House has ruled: despite Chinese warnings on possible countermeasures, "
the United States will send their athletes, but no diplomatic representative
”.
It is therefore a partial boycott.
Le Soir
specifies here that the American Olympic Committee is opposed to a total boycott, explaining that "
the Games are important after months of pandemic
".
In the past, this Committee has also judged the boycott of the Moscow Games by the Westerners in 1980 and those of Los Angeles in 1984 by the Soviet Union as a "
mistake
".
For its part, the
Global Times of China is
already publishing the response of a spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For him, "
the protagonists of the Olympic Games are athletes and not politicians.
Politicians who brag about the so-called boycott are doing it simply to gain political advantage and gain attention
”.
In short, move around, there is nothing to see!
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