Cracks in the coalition: What do Scholz allow?

Sigmar Gabriel did not go down in the history of the SPD as a specialist in calming down the waves.

In this respect, it was noticeable when the former party chairman on Wednesday called for clearer communication about how Ukraine could be supported in its fight against the Russian attackers by NATO countries and thus also by Germany.

Then "possibly the debate within the coalition would calm down," said Gabriel on Deutschlandfunk.

The argument that Gabriel is referring to picks up steam.

Almost on a daily basis, the Greens' chairman of the Europe Committee, Anton Hofreiter, casts doubt on the chancellor's leadership qualities in connection with military aid for Ukraine.

And it doesn't stop there.

By way of a detour via criticism of the prominent social democratic Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig for her role in the construction of Nord Stream 2, the Greens chairman Omid Nouripour is now also targeting the SPD.

What Hofreiter is for the Greens is for the FDP, the Chairwoman of the Defense Committee, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, who is important these weeks.

She, too, questions Scholz's leadership in connection with the arms deliveries to Ukraine.

There is no indication that the leaders of her party, such as Finance Minister Lindner, or the parliamentary group have stood in her way.

And Scholz?

lets it run

On Tuesday evening, after the meeting with important NATO partners and the EU about support for Ukraine, he groped his way through his speech at a press conference.

It took a little practice and a lot of goodwill to understand what he meant about the delivery of heavy weapons: Those states that can offer Ukraine something that can be deployed quickly can count on German support.

Berlin itself remains cautious.

Just a big performance

Once Olaf Scholz has made a big appearance as chancellor.

That was during his turning point speech in front of the Bundestag three days after the beginning of the war, when he promised arms deliveries to Ukraine and 100 billion for German rearmament.

The February 27 government statement appeared to be of the same caliber as the promise of "unreserved solidarity" made by his Social Democrat predecessor, Schröder, to America immediately after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

At the time, it resulted in the longest deployment of the Bundeswehr of all time.

But little is left of the force of Scholz's appearance in February.

The Federal Chancellor cannot be blamed for the quantity of his attendance.

His predecessor, Angela Merkel, only addressed the Bundestag twice in the first four months of her term in office.

Scholz is already coming up with four speeches.

He allows himself to be questioned and travels the world accompanied by the media.

But from day to day it is becoming more and more clear that the Green Vice Chancellor Habeck can explain the possibilities and limits of government action better than the head of government.

Scholz likes to give the impression, both publicly and internally, that he has a precise plan of what to do, that he should only be left to his own devices and spared unnecessary questions.

Just like Merkel.

Supplying Ukraine with heavy weapons to fight Russia is certainly the most sensitive issue for the chancellor, whose party friends are largely skeptical about a tough deal with Moscow.

But the chancellor's hesitancy also creates the image of a disunited coalition in other areas, in which unrest is growing.

The chancellor doesn't dare

If it weren't for the war, Scholz would have been blamed much more heavily for the failure of general compulsory vaccination against the corona virus than was the case.

His communication was also problematic in this field.

Scholz was in favor of compulsory vaccination, but did not want to do everything in his power to do so with a government bill for fear of missing his own majority.

In the end, the middle ground brought the “death” of compulsory vaccination.

And even in times when every liter of fuel saved could reduce dependence on Russia, Scholz does not dare to enforce a speed limit against the FDP.

The Chancellor has been in politics long enough to remember how the Schröder government overcame two existential crises in its first six months, with Lafontaine's resignation and a special party conference in Kosovo.

He doesn't want to experience anything comparable, and the traffic light is still a long way from such shocks.

The honeymoon of the initially glorified alliance is over, however.