OLAF SCHOLZ from Germany’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) was sworn in Wednesday as Germany’s ninth post-World War II chancellor, ending 16 years of conservative rule under Angela Merkel and paving the way for a pro-European coalition government which has vowed to boost green investment. Scholz, deputy chancellor and finance minister under former Chancellor Merkel, won 395 votes from the 736-seat Bundestag, the lower house of parliament. “It will be a new beginning for our country. In any case I will do everything to work towards that,” the 63-year-old said as he took his oath of office in an official handover ceremony in the Berlin parliament. He will lead Germany’s first three-party coalition composed of the SPD, the ecologist Greens, and the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP). His new Cabinet of 16 ministers will helm a green transition, infrastructure upgrade and social welfare development amid a fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a new chapter in German politics unfolds, the world is watching how the new chancellor will live up to his commitments and what his new government means for Europe and the rest of the world. The SPD-Greens-FDP coalition sealed a pact, titled “Dare for More Progress” last month that pledged “a new beginning for Germany.” The alliance aims to slash carbon emissions, overhaul decrepit digital infrastructure, modernize citizenship laws, lift the minimum wage and have Germany join a handful of countries worldwide in legalizing marijuana. “I know you are starting work highly motivated,” Merkel told Scholz at her chancellery in Berlin, adding: “take this office and work in the best interest of our country — that is my wish.” As Germany’s new chancellor, Scholz will lead Europe’s largest economy which is currently facing a brutal fourth wave of coronavirus infections. “We have to make a fresh start while facing down the corona pandemic – those are the circumstances the new government is up against,” Scholz told reporters Tuesday, flanked by his designated finance and economy ministers, Christian Lindner and Robert Habeck. More than 103,000 people have died with coronavirus in Germany while new infections have surged since the weather turned cold, filling intensive care units to the breaking point. Scholz has thrown his weight behind Germany following Austria in making jabs mandatory to get the pandemic under control, as experts say the worst is still to come for the country’s struggling clinics. He aims to have parliament vote on the issue before the year is out with a view to implementing the law in February or March. Scholz’s new government has announced ambitious plans regarding Germany’s domestic and international interests, but questions remain. The 177-page coalition agreement signed Tuesday places climate change as priority. The deal pledges to phase out coal by 2030 instead of 2038, to cover 80 percent of power demand with renewables instead of the previous 65-percent target and to have at least 15 million electric vehicles on German roads by the decade’s end. As part of the agreement, the new government plans to increase the minimum wage from 9.6 euros (US$10.85) an hour to 12 euros an hour, build 400,000 new housing units every year and restrict rent rises. The new government will also focus on upgrading infrastructure, providing faster internet speeds, improving health services, and offering more training to the jobless. One big question is how the new government will raise enough funds for all its plans without violating either its promise of no tax increases or the “debt brake” — Germany’s constitutional cap on new borrowing from 2023 onward. Analysts believe the state-owned development bank KfW will play the role of an innovation and investment agency, using its expanding balance sheets to leverage private investments in green energy and digitization. Germany’s power transition is widely expected to be stable. The joint appearances of Merkel and Scholz at the Group of 20 summit in Rome in October impressed the European media, which reported that it signaled a great deal of continuity. Scholz once served as mayor of Hamburg and was vice chancellor for three years to Merkel, who wished him good luck at the handover ceremony. As for foreign policy, Germany’s new government will continue to strengthen the EU on the global stage and will make sure that Germany is part of that process, Scholz said at a press conference Tuesday. “German foreign policy is a policy of continuity,” he added. Scholz’s first trip outside Germany as chancellor will take him to France, just as Merkel did after her first election in 2005, and then to Brussels for meetings with top EU officials. Observers say the smooth transition of power relies more on solidarity among the three coalition parties, which had different and sometimes opposing priorities before and during the election on issues like climate change, taxation, fiscal policy and the appointment of ministers in the new Cabinet. How to ensure unity within the new government, achieve its objectives and lead Germany in the post-Merkel era is likely to be a test of political wisdom for the new chancellor. Scholz has positioned himself as a pragmatist and a safe pair of hands. In fact his political style is not dissimilar to that of Merkel — the two are alike in many ways, despite hailing from rival parties. “He comes across as calm, measured, steady,” said Corinna Hoerst, a senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) in Brussels. Scholz — a life-long member of the SPD — was born in what was then West Germany, a detail that sets him apart from Merkel, who grew up in East Germany. Before turning to politics, Scholz was a lawyer in his native Hamburg before being elected to parliament in 1998. In the 2000s, he became general secretary of the Social Democrats under the leadership of veteran Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, his political mentor. When Merkel replaced Schroeder in 2005 and formed her first grand coalition between the Social Democrats and the CDU, Scholz served as labor minister from 2007 to 2009 and was part of the government that led the country through the financial crisis. In 2011, Scholz was elected mayor of Hamburg, a position he held — with high levels of support — until 2018, and the Social Democrats regained their hometown after years of inter-party infighting in the city. He was a popular mayor, implemented free daycare for families, and embarked on a massive home-building program. In 2018, he received the mandate of finance minister in Merkel’s second grand coalition, as well as the position of vice chancellor. His profile rose even further when he oversaw Germany’s generous coronavirus compensation programs for businesses, employees and those who lost income because they had to quarantine during the pandemic. Unlike Merkel, who has become a household name across the world during her long tenure, Scholz is not well known abroad — beyond Brussels’ political circles. Scholz has had his share of political problems in the past. During the Schroeder years, he earned the nickname “Scholzomat” due to his adherence to the ruling party line (and repetition of Schroeder’s rhetoric) at a time when the SPD was cutting welfare and reforming the economy. As mayor of Hamburg, he was criticized for his mishandling of violent protests that unfolded during a G20 meeting his city hosted in 2017. Hamburg descended into chaos during the summit, and hundreds of police officers were injured in clashes with protesters. Scholz had underplayed the potential risk from demonstrations, and so was blamed for the city’s lack of preparation. (SD-Agencies) | 