Kastrierte Opposition -> Kastrierte Opposition

Merz and opposition go together as well as Ricarda Lang and artistic gymnastics,“ wrote a reader in a comment under an article here recently. As mean as this statement is, it’s hard to disagree with it. And I thought of this quote today when a foreign friend, who is well connected in Berlin, sent me a link to Friedrich Merz’s speech in the Bundestag with the following comment: „He doesn’t understand that he has to make fundamental opposition. And the SPD laughs at him and humiliates him because of it. They don’t even want to hear his ‚constructive‘ proposals. And he doesn’t understand that.“ There is little to add to this diagnosis. Instead of banging his fist on the table and clearly naming things like Franz Josef Strauß once did, the CDU leader presents a weak, even pitiful figure. Instead of clearly defining the „traffic light“ coalition, which provides plenty of attack surface, he complains that they violate the CDU’s „minority rights“ and that the traffic light MPs behave badly and insult the poor CDU, for example with interjections. This is downright tragicomic on several levels. And one could laugh heartily about it if the total failure of the largest opposition party were not such a catastrophe for our country. Merz’s performance is more of a complaint about how poorly he is treated than an attack speech by an opposition leader. He appropriately ends the embarrassing appearance not with a declaration of war, but with an appeal to the government: „Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to offer you the opportunity to think calmly over the summer break about how we, you, the majority of the coalition faction, and we, the largest opposition faction here in the German Bundestag, can contribute to rebuilding the trust of the people of our country in this institution, the German Bundestag.“ Apparently, because he has nothing to offer in terms of content, Merz repeats the same thought a few moments later, just in slightly different words: „Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to make a suggestion. I would like to make a suggestion here that we use the upcoming recess to pause and reflect on how we can shape the work here in this parliament between the opposition and the government, but also between their majority and the minority here in parliament in such a way that a majority of the citizens of our country regain trust in the functionality of our democracy and in the functionality of the German Bundestag as the guardian of our country’s democracy.“ In other words, let’s form a circle and talk about it. Just imagine for a moment Franz Josef Strauß speaking like that. Just the thought made me laugh and shake my head immediately. Merz is the parliamentary equivalent of judges who believe that strictness can only harm and that one must find a common language even with the worst guys. Not only does Merz not bite, as an opposition leader must do. He makes it clear that he doesn’t even dare to bite properly. This is evident even in his choice of words – when he dutifully speaks of „citizens“ instead of using the generic masculine. Can one be surprised in the face of such a performance that there are voices calling the parties „block parties“? Especially when at the same time a member of the CDU executive board is advocating cooperation with the successors of the SED from the SED? And isn’t it logical that the AfD is gaining massively in the face of such a failure of the Union as the opposition

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Kastrierte Opposition

„Merz und Opposition, das passt so gut zusammen wie Ricarda Lang und Kunstturnen“, schrieb kürzlich ein Leser in einem Kommentar unter einem Artikel hier. So böse diese Aussage ist – so schwer kann man ihr widersprechen. Und an dieses Zitat musste ich heute denken, als mir ein ausländischer Freund, der bestens in Berlin vernetzt ist, heute einen Link auf die Rede von Friedrich Merz im Bundestag schickte mit folgendem Kommentar: „Er versteht nicht, dass er fundamentale Opposition machen muss. Und die SPD lacht ihn deshalb aus und erniedrigt ihn. Die wollen seine ‘konstruktiven‘ Vorschläge nicht mal hören. Und er versteht das nicht.“ Eigentlich ist dieser Diagnose wenig hinzuzufügen. Statt wie einst Franz Josef Strauß auf den Tisch zu hauen und

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