In the ZDF talk at Maybrit Illner, party chairmen Christian Lindner (FDP) and Saskia Esken (SPD) discuss the question “Liberal or social – what secures prosperity for everyone?”
Berlin – Three weeks and three days before the federal election in 2021, the SPD of the CDU and CSU is seriously competing with the polls. Chancellor Angela Merkel prompted her to conjure up antiquarian rivalries between long-term government partners by warning of a “red sock” policy – after all, Vice Chancellor and SPD candidate for Chancellor Olaf Scholz even produced photos with “Merkel diamond” for the SZ magazine .
In the “camp election campaign” (Illner), the FDP could now deliver the decisive votes for “preventing” red-green-red. Under the title “Liberal or social – what secures prosperity for everyone?” Maybrit Illner (ZDF) discusses the state of affairs with the FDP party leader Christian Lindner and the SPD chairman Saskia Esken, the author and journalist Gabor Steingart and the SZ -Capital correspondent Henrike Roßbach will be flanked.
| The guests on September 2, 2021 in the ZDF Talk at Maybrit Illner | |
| Saskia Esken | SPD party leader |
| Christian Lindner | FDP party and parliamentary group chairman |
| Henrike Rossbach | Journalist |
| Gabor Steingart | journalist |
Maybrit Illner (ZDF): Christian Lindner doesn’t understand Olaf Scholz
At the beginning, Christian Linder expressed incomprehension that Scholz wanted to build on Merkel’s tradition, rather the country needed a “new start”. Henrike Roßbach, on the other hand, points out that the Germans are apparently satisfied with Merkel’s style and that the Scholz bond is probably working. When asked which coalitions of the SPD would be open in the event of an election victory, both Gabor Steingart and Saskia Esken reasonably want to wait for the election result.
For a while, however, the discussion revolved around possible coalitions after the federal election. As far as the content of the SPD is concerned, Roßbach finds the SPD election program “more left than Scholz”. Steingart explains that Armin Laschet is also doing “the diamond”, although there has been a “relative decline in Germany” over the past sixteen years: “Things have gotten off the rails.”
Christian Lindner defends his behavior in the ZDF talk at Illner in 2017
Christian Linder defends Illner’s abortion of the coalition negotiations by the FDP in 2017, pointing out that the FDP is an “own party with its own program”, but was only intended as a “majority procurer”, not as a source of ideas. “We have a substantive claim on politics,” explains Lindner and cites various coalition models of the FDP at state level as witnesses. However, he “still lacks the imagination” to work with the SPD.
Asked by Illner whether the SPD would form a coalition with Die Linke, Saskia Esken, referring to an SPD decision from 2013, states that her party is striving for a clear commitment to NATO and a strong EU and that she does not ” Government will “see. Esken again emphasizes: “The election results will be known on election evening.” Lindner sees in the election manifestos of the SPD, Greens and the Left, however, an “internal relationship” that is only not fulfilled in terms of foreign policy.
ZDF talk at Maybrit Illner is then even less heated
The overall dignified discussion on ZDF is a bit more heated when it comes to money. When asked whether the planned tax cuts by the FDP can even be financed, Christian Linder calculates how the tax burden in the “highest tax country” Germany can be reduced – and mentions, among other things, the abolition of the solidarity surcharge.
Henrike Roßbach finds the high tax rates “hostile to performance” and considers a mixture of private investments and national debt to be necessary in order to achieve a climate-neutral industry. Saskia Esken explains the “reluctance to invest” in the economy by stating that what is to come is uncertain. Lindner agrees and calls for a reduction in bureaucracy in order to revive the economy. However, he rejects subsidies for e-cars and cargo bikes.
At Maybrit Illner (ZDF), the old workers’ SPD almost appears
In the ZDF talk at Illner, Gabor Steingart doubts that the country as a whole would have something of a “tabula rasa” with rich people and would like “innovation and inspiration”. After the “assault in the pandemic”, Germany does not need more state, only education and secure advancement.
While Saskia Esken is demanding higher (minimum) wages, Steingart does not want to see low-wage workers “narcotized” by minimum wages. Saskia Esken remains with the SPD’s demand for higher wages. It is “indecent” when full-time work is paid so poorly that people also have to do a mini job. Sounds almost like the old workers’ SPD, which has pretty much alienated its traditional clientele in recent years. (Christian Horn)
