ARD election arena: Scholz: Union should "now recover in the opposition"

The SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz has described it as his personal goal that the Union ends up in the opposition after the federal election.

Scholz did not rule out an alliance with the Left Party on Tuesday evening in the ARD “election arena”.

"You can be sure that this is my whole goal, like, by the way, as I have the impression, that of many citizens, that the CDU / CSU can now recover in the opposition," said Scholz when asked by a spectator whether he can be sure that there is no longer a new grand coalition.

When asked by another viewer whether he could vote for the SPD without lifting the left into a government, Scholz said that he could vote for the SPD and that the questions he had asked would certainly be answered.

The man had given as reasons for his skepticism concerns, among other things, about the transatlantic relationship and the further development of the EU.

Scholz: "Hour of the Citizens"

Scholz reiterated that Germany must also work with the United States on security.

That also applies to NATO.

"For me, there can only be one government that is completely clear about this." That must be clear from day one.

When asked whether he would then rule out a coalition with the left, Scholz emphasized that there was currently a “very, very democratic momentum” in Germany.

The future coalition will not be made out in the back room.

"Now is the time for the citizens to decide," said Scholz.

It depends on the Chancellor.

Scholz also spoke out in favor of maintaining the VAT rate for meals in the catering trade, which was reduced in the corona pandemic.

The Federal Finance Minister said that he had consciously agreed to the extension of the reduced rate until the end of 2022: “We will never do that again.

So that is now something that should also apply to gastronomy.

You can rely on it."

According to the will of the Chancellor candidate, schoolchildren in Germany should be able to continue to receive instruction, some digitally, even after the pandemic. "Corona will soon be over, and then we shouldn't stop with the digital infrastructure in schools," said Scholz. “We shouldn't wish for a whole week of digital lessons to take place now - but if two or three hours are done digitally, if you learn to work together between students and teachers with digital formats, then that also helps young people to be well prepared are for a life in which digital communication options play a very, very important role. "

Scholz expressed the expectation that the federal government's billions in funding for school digitization in the “School Digital Pact” will now also increasingly reach schools.

Most of the funds have now been ordered by the federal states, said the finance minister.

Two years after the start of the digital pact, as of June 30th, only 852 million euros of the federal funding pool, which had grown to 6.5 billion euros, had been called up.

Around 1.4 billion euros had been applied for and approved, but not yet called.

Scholz said that the countries will also be able to use the means of the pact well.

"I will work to ensure that it does not stop, but that it continues until we have a good digital infrastructure for every school in Germany." The federal, state and local authorities would have to work together.

Scholz admitted that “we would have needed this digital pact much earlier”. The digital pact is a large funding program for the digital modernization of schools that runs from May 2019 to 2024.