Scholz challenged over potential coalition with leftists

German conservatives have put pressure on Social Democrat (SPD) chancellor hopeful Olaf Scholz to make it clear before this month’s election whether he would cooperate with the leftist Die Linke party in a coalition government.

German conservatives’ top candidate, Armin Laschet, said he expected a clear statement from Scholz on whether he would enter into a governing coalition with Die Linke.

Scholz has so far not strictly ruled out a coalition government involving the far-left party, which is widely perceived as having pro-Russian and even anti-democratic elements.

“Die Linke is a party that is not allowed to belong to a German government,” Laschet said, adding that with the floating participation of the left in a government of Social Democrats and Greens, the aim is to pressure the Liberals (FDP) to join the government instead of the left.

Similarly, Chancellor Angela Merkel said she would never enter a coalition with Die Linke.

Merkel took aim at Scholz in the race by comparing him to the radical left party, which has recently sparked criticism for voting against the German military’s Afghanistan evacuation mission. The party also wants to see NATO abolished and has long made its militant pacifism known.

This is the first time the outgoing chancellor spoke in such clear terms in the historic election campaign, at a time when her conservative CSU/CDU Union is faltering in the polls.

According to the latest Insa poll for Bild TV, Social Democrats (SPD) lead the race with 25% followed by conservatives (20%). The Greens stood at 16.5%, the business-friendly FDP at 13.5%, the far-right AfD at 11% and far-left Die Linke at 7%.

According to Reuters, these numbers increase the chances of a left-leaning coalition government.

Nord Stream 2: Who is pro-Russian?

German conservatives accuse Die Linke of being pro-Russian, but recently both CDU and SPD have been criticised by the rest of Europe of flirting with Russia especially in the case of Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

The controversial pipeline has caused a rift between Die Linke and the Greens.

In September 2020, the Greens parliamentary group submitted a motion calling on the federal government to immediately distance itself from the pipeline project and prevent its completion, something that has become a core demand of their current election campaign.

Die Linke argues that Nord Stream 2 is in European and German interests, also to reach gas sovereignty from the US.

“The fact that the Greens are still insisting that Nord Stream 2 should not go into operation shows that it is unrealistic,” Klaus Ernst, economic policy spokesman for the Die Linke parliamentary group said in July after the German-US agreement to drop sanctions on the controversial project.

He said he would “take a critical view of the assumption that Russia wants to use energy as a weapon. Such behaviour has been shown by the US and not Russia in the past.”

The first Nord Stream pipeline was signed off on by former chancellor Gerhard Schröder, who then became Russia’s Gazprom CEO.

Historic precedent

The controversy in Germany is reminiscent of attacks against François Mitterrand, both internally and externally, for bringing the French communists to power positions.

Mitterrand won the presidential elections in 1981 with the support of the pro-USSR French Communist Party and invited a few communist ministers in the cabinet (they left in 1984).

Despite the apocalyptic warnings from the US administration about the risks to the Western alliance, France remained a stable pillar of the West and a strong ally of the US.