‘Sealing the deal’ – A caricature
This week, regular contributor Will Grosse produced a caricature representing Olaf Scholz, the forthcoming German Chancellor and his attempt, as well as success at forming a new coalition.
After two months of post-election political manoeuvring, Olaf Scholz is finally in line to succeed Angela Merkel as German Chancellor. With a 9th successive year of a CDU-SPD ‘grand coalition’ ruled out (3 of which saw Scholz serve as finance minister), the latter party signed a deal with the Greens and libertarian FDP in a so-called ‘traffic light’ arrangement – alluding to their campaign colours. An Establishment figure whose socialism has considerably mellowed since the 1970s, Scholz nonetheless promises an ambitious progressive agenda: Carbon neutrality by 2045, a minimum wage of 12 euros an hour, as well as immigration, abortion, and voting reforms. As his predecessor steps down following a 16-year premiership, it remains to be seen what a post-Merkel Germany (and even Europe) will look like.
