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In Merkel’s group with the 16 prime ministers, very different characters and interests collide: what drives them, what they fear and what divides them.
By Kristin Schwietzer, Kirsten Girschick and Moritz Rödle, ARD capital studio
14 heads of government, two female heads and at least 16 different interests: finding a common line in this group is always a political work of art. Not only because there are countries A and B. In the circle of countries A, the prime ministers of the governments led by the SPD plus Thuringia meet, the B countries are led by the CDU. But in the time of Corona, political conflicts between parties take a back seat. Rather, other things play a role: the number of infections and thus the crown’s coping with the crisis, years in office, one’s political ambitions, coalition partners, election dates and the power. Who acts, how and why? A selection.
Michael Müller – the moderator
The ruling mayor of Berlin currently occupies a prominent position. As head of the Prime Minister’s Conference (MPK), the SPD politician can sit next to Chancellor Angela Merkel and immediately after her present the decisions of the federal state talks to the public. In November, Müller had replaced the head of the Bavarian government, Söder, as head of the MPK, as planned. Söder has to deal with the role of vice president.
Müller is seen by his colleagues as a loner who does not like to communicate. Also, your time at the Rotes Rathaus is coming to an end. He will probably no longer be in office after the House of Representatives elections next fall at the latest. Therefore, it could also be called the “lame duck”.
His work as president of MPK does not seem to have any influence on any of this. There are many compliments from my colleagues. Of a country it is even said: “We are surprised how well it does it.”
Müller moderates and apparently tries, in his role as head of the MPK, to represent all interests in the most neutral way possible. To do this, it must systematically coordinate with all countries, regardless of whether they are led by the CDU, the CSU, the Greens, the Left or the SPD. His own position as head of a city-state government apparently flows into his evaluations. However, his colleagues see no problem: after all, almost all of Germany is now a Corona hotspot.
Malu Dreyer – The Binding
She is in a special position: Malu Dreyer is the only SPD prime minister who governs her state in coalition with the Greens and the FDP. And the liberals in Rhineland-Palatinate seem pretty sure of themselves, which is also due to Finance Minister Volker Wissing. He is secretary general of the FDP in the secondary office and, when in doubt, as such at the federal level, he has to criticize precisely the resolutions that he supported as minister in Rhineland-Palatinate.
From the circle of colleagues it is said of Dreyer that he negotiates binding, competent and unifying. They also involve the state associations of the SPD that do not have prime ministers and maintain contact with the heads of government of the CDU and CSU.
For the reasons mentioned, Dreyer has to reinsure more often with the coalition partner. This is also important because the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament will be re-elected in the spring. Dreyer probably needs the FDP again as a coalition partner. She cannot use a coalition dispute over the Corona resolutions.
Manuela Schwesig – the self-confident
Manuela Schwesig’s word carries weight in federal-state meetings: the prime minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania often advocates a flexible implementation of the measures. That means: strict rules where the number of infections is particularly high, relaxation where the seven-day incidence falls well below 50.
Schwesig is mainly focused on his own federal state: infection figures in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are relatively stable and are currently just under 50 per 100,000 inhabitants. This must be defended: already in autumn, the SPD politician was one of the strongest defenders of the controversial accommodation ban. Schwesig repeatedly insists on the special situation of his state, and sometimes offends his colleagues.
After last week’s failed meeting, his criticism of the Chancellery could not be ignored: he accused Merkel and company of “weekly salami tactics.” When it comes to school, the SPD woman is fighting again: the prime minister rejects Merkel’s request for alternative classes. She favors Health Minister Jens Spahn’s idea for rapid tests and quarantine in schools. He is not afraid of the conflict with Merkel. But Schwesig is not without pressure either: state elections are due next fall and, in the latest Infratest poll, his coalition partner was ahead: the CDU.
Armin Laschet – number one
The Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia is under special pressure. He has to assert himself twice in the Corona crisis: as prime minister of the most populous country and as a candidate for the presidency of the CDU. Corona initially got Laschet in trouble. His liberal demeanor proved treacherous.
The CDU politician wanted to leave as much freedom as possible at the beginning of the pandemic. Later, Heinsberg became a hotspot in North Rhine-Westphalia. After a carnival session, the infection figures explode here. There were also hundreds of infected meat workers in Tönnies. Conditions in the meat industry for low-wage workers from Romania or Bulgaria shed light on the industry and the Prime Minister. Laschet angered the public with ambiguous statements about Romanian and Bulgarian auxiliary workers. Laschet was counted. His actions in the crisis often seemed like a continuous course, especially in direct comparison to his official colleague from Bavaria, who, by the way, also scored positive points for question K.
With the second wave of corona infections, the Laschet change also came. Now he is one of the hardliners. He advocates stricter contact requirements, an extension of the partial lockdown, and swears by his compatriots in tough times, even on “the toughest Christmas the postwar generations have ever experienced.”
Markus Söder – the conductor
Of all the prime ministers, Markus Söder makes the most comprehensive appearance in the Corona crisis. The first corona cases occurred in Bavaria, and the state had a high number of cases compared to the northern states of Germany. From the beginning, Söder urged quick reactions and tough measures, and in the spring he brought his colleagues to the prime minister before him. Instead of forging commitments in the background as chairman of the Prime Minister’s Conference, he publicly pushed for crown measures, sometimes without prior agreement. In particular, there were upset reactions from NRW.
Söder has always presented himself as a particularly consistent fighter against a pandemic. And that’s despite the fact that there were setbacks in Bavaria, for example, with corona tests for returning travelers. Söder knows he’s close to the chancellor’s line. At joint press conferences after the prime minister’s rounds, he likes to deal with the other countries, like last Monday.
Three orientals – on special routes
“I am not a subordinate authority of the Chancellery”: Bodo Ramelow did not accidentally slip this phrase the other day. The left-wing politician said what many East German prime ministers think: Berlin decides, states implement. But for many, what the Foreign Ministry envisions in terms of crown restrictions goes too far. Resistance is increasing especially in the east, also because the number of cases has been much lower than in the west of the republic. Therefore, some took a special route. For example, the head of the government of Saxony-Anhalt, Rainer Haseloff (CDU), was the only federal state that resisted fines for violating the mask requirement for a long time.
The Prime Minister of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer (CDU), felt the chancellor’s recommendation to air the rooms regularly as condescension of the population itself. And Ramelow in Thuringia fought a new blocking decision for a long time. But meanwhile, the number of cases is also increasing in Thuringia: the district of Hildburghausen is currently one of the pioneers at the national level. Tighter contact and exit restrictions are now planned here.
Eastern Prime Ministers are united by concern that citizens will not accept overly strict blanket restrictions. This, it is feared, could ultimately strengthen political margins and play off opponents of the Crown’s measures, especially the AfD. That is why many prime ministers want to react mainly at the regional level. Not forgetting: next year a new state parliament will also be elected in Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia.
