Germany: Chancellor candidates visit flood-hit region

Two of Germany’s top candidates to replace Angela Merkel as chancellor this fall — North Rhine-Westphalian State Premier Armin Laschet and Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz — have been touring parts of western Germany devastated by recent heavy floods.

Scholz, who is from the center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) and currently serves as vice chancellor, said rebuilding the region would no doubt “devour several billion” euros.

Standing alongside Laschet, who runs the state, Scholz said, “Federal and state funds are ready,” claiming reconstruction could start immediately.

Laschet, who is a member of Merkel’s center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), chimed in, “The federal and state governments will get it done together.” But, he added, things in the region will never be the same, stressing the need to make communities “flood resistant.”

What did Scholz say?

“Whatever can be fixed with money, we’ll fix with money,” said Scholz, who estimated the cost of the floods could surpass €6 billion ($7.12 billion).

“We’ll probably need much more to deal with reconstruction,” he added.

Scholz said the federal government would also put a moratorium on bankruptcy filings for businesses affected by the floods, much as it has done throughout the course of the coronavirus pandemic.

For all the talk of money, the finance minister also acknowledged the government could not fix the broken lives nor the catastrophic damage done to the hearts and minds of people in the region.

Why is Laschet’s popularity waning?

Scholz’s electoral star has been rising of late, thanks in part to Laschet’s failing popularity. Laschet has faced increasing criticism for his handling of the flood crisis, as well as dealing with fallout from embarrassing PR missteps.

On Monday, Laschet was berated by angry locals who called him a “loser,” saying he would, “find out what voters thought” of his crisis management this fall, as he toured Swisttal, near Bonn.

Recent polls have seen Scholz surging ahead slightly as coverage of the floods takes attention away from most other issues and shines a light on Laschet’s leadership skills in a difficult situation.

In an RTL Trendbarometer poll published Tuesday, 21% of Germans said they would prefer to vote for him as opposed to 15% for Laschet and 18% for Green party candidate Annalena Baerbock.

Last week, a ZDF Politbarometer poll found that 34% wanted Scholz to be chancellor ahead of Laschet with 29% and Baerbock with 20%. The same polling, however, showed the CDU and the Greens comfortably ahead of the SPD. 

• German election 2021: Meet the parties’ top candidates

  Annalena Baerbock (Greens)

  At the age of 40, Annalena Baerbock has been co-chair of the Greens since 2018. A jurist with a degree in public international law from the London School of Economics, her supporters see her as a safe pair of hands with a good grasp of detail. Her opponents point to her lack of governing experience.

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  Armin Laschet (CDU)

  Armin Laschet is the national party chairman of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and serves as premier of Germany’s most populous state. Conservatives routinely underestimated the jovial 60-year-old, who is famous for his belief in integration and compromise. But, recently, his liberal noninterventionist instincts have led to him eating his words more than once during the coronavirus pandemic.

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  Olaf Scholz (SPD)

  Plumbing new depths with each election, the Social Democrats (SPD) decided to run a realist rather than a radical as their top candidate in 2021. Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, a former mayor of Hamburg, and Merkel’s deputy in the grand coalition, is seen as dry and technocratic. Many in his party say the 62-year-old is unlikely to energize party activists and win their hearts.

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  Christian Lindner (FDP)

  The 42-year-old media-savvy Christian Lindner joined the Free Democrats (FDP) at the age of just 16 and has headed the party since 2013. The reserve officer and son of a teacher comes from North Rhine-Westphalia and studied political science. He hopes to join a ruling coalition after the September election, and the conservative CDU/CSU is his declared preference.

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  Janine Wissler and Dietmar Bartsch (Left)

  The 63-year-old Dietmar Bartsch and 39-year-old Janine Wissler complement each other. Bartsch is from East Germany, a pragmatist who has led his parliamentary party since 2015. Far-left Wisseler hails from western Germany and has been the party’s co-chair since February. She represents the Left’s more radical positions, such as the immediate end to military missions abroad and all weapons exports.

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  Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla (AfD)

  Co-chair Tino Chrupalla, 46, joined the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in 2015, attracted to its anti-immigration platform. The painter and decorator from Saxony has been an MP since 2017 and backs the extreme-right wing, but urges moderate campaign language. Alice Weidel, a 42-year-old economist, is the co-head of the AfD in the Bundestag. AfD members have accused her of not pulling her weight.

  Author: Rina Goldenberg

js/nm (AFP, dpa)

Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-chancellor-candidates-visit-flood-hit-region/a-58749312?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf