Government survey with Merkel: strange routine

mer run, run and run, was the announcement of the indestructible VW Beetle. The chancellor runs on Wednesday. When Angela Merkel was questioned by members of the Bundestag for a good hour, she left the Reichstag a few minutes after 2 p.m. and he did something unusual: he walked the five hundred meters back to the Chancellery on foot.

The small group that accompanies them must run with them. The minibus that drives them in Corona times due to the minimum distance in the vehicle rolls alongside, as does the accompanying black sedan. Her blue jacket will soon be just a point in the young afternoon sun. There is still a time until the sinking.

Since this legislative period, it has been the case in the government poll in the weeks of the Bundestag session that a member of the government answers questions from deputies. Merkel has appeared multiple times, and even on Wednesday you can’t get rid of the impression that she likes this little exchange of punches. All questions can be asked, interlocutors and respondents have to be close so that as many as possible can be addressed.

FDP MP Johannes Vogel has chosen the pension policy. Referring to two well-known economists, he notes that as a result of the economic crisis due to Corona’s measures, wages could rise less than pensions. Even as she asked her question, Merkel’s face lit up, you can see a certain smile. As if he already knew how he would convert the sentence he was given. She, the friend of science, is surprised that two “so recognized professors” realize this. Then a short presentation on the “payback factor” and a link on the pension guarantee, which she faces. Pensioners deserve it. Next question, next answer.

The tension is gone

It is an oddly routine state of mind under the Reichstag dome compared to the fact that Germany has been in a pandemic state of emergency for two months and Merkel repeatedly emphasizes that fighting the virus will continue to be a problem for a long time to come. Almost none of the MPs wear masks. Apparently, only a Social Democrat has matched the pink of his jacket with that of his mouth and nose protector. Or vice versa.

All in all, sitting and standing, one tries to keep his distance, but the behavior of the parliamentarians would not resist strict control. There are no ministers in government banks, only parliamentary secretaries of state. Merkel remains in her seat for an hour, her fingers spread out on the desk.

Corona remains the dominant theme. In her presentation, which lasted only a few minutes, Merkel limited herself to this. In terms of content, it doesn’t say anything surprising. But the tension that was still in her pandemic declarations in late April, because the relaxation was too fast for her, can no longer be felt.

On April 23, when he made his first government statement on Corona, not from the government bank, but on the lectern, and urged restraint to remove the restrictions, it seems a long way off. New infections are now in an area that the health system can handle, Merkel says Wednesday. There is still a call not to jeopardize successes. But then it joins the desire of many people to return to work, cafes, and schools. The chancellor still remembers walking away and washing her hands.