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REUTERS

Germany's new parliament faces historic challenges

On Tuesday, newly elected members of the Bundestag took their oaths and their seats at ahistoric moment for Germany. Friedrich Merz of the center-right CDU/CSU remains in talks with the center-left SPD in hopes of forming a government in the coming weeks. This next government, which Merz will lead as chancellor, must revive a limping domestic economy, shift Germany’s energy supply, and rebuild broken infrastructure while meeting the urgent security challenges posed by Russian aggression on one side and an American retreat from the transatlantic relationship on the other. A constitutional change authored by the previous government has enabled a strong surge in state spending that can spur major new investments in all these projects.
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz attends a news conference in the Federal Chancellery following the video conference with the country's 16 state leaders on the surge in the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases, in Berlin, Germany, December 9, 2021.

Michael Kappeler/Pool via REUTERS

Enter Olaf — can he keep Germany’s traffic light blinking?

As of this week, for the first time since Gwen Stefani was topping the charts with Hollaback Girl, Germany is not run by a person named Angela.

Olaf Scholz — the pragmatic, robotic, determined leader of the center-left SPD party — now holds the reins of Europe’s largest economy.

But he also leads a three-party coalition, the first in Germany’s modern history, with the progressively, climate conscious Greens and the business-friendly fiscal hawks of the Free Democrats party. The coalition is known as the “traffic light” owing to the colors of its three members.

Here are a few immediate and longer-term challenges for Scholz.

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German Election Outcome Begins New Era of Three-Party Cooperation | Europe In :60 | GZERO Media

German election outcome begins new era of three-party cooperation

Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Sweden, shares his perspective from Europe:

What about the outcome of the German election?

Well, as expected, the Social Democrats under Olaf Scholz came out on top. They had a very credible campaign, presenting him primarily not as a Social Democrat, but as a possible successor to Angela Merkel. Then, It's going to take quite some time to form a new government and the exact outcome of that, not entirely certain.

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Gabriella Turrisi

Germany’s frenemy kingmakers

The German people have spoken. For the first time in over 70 years, the country's next government is all but assured to be a three-way coalition.

That coalition will probably be led by the center-left SPD, the most voted party, with the Greens and the pro-business FDP as junior partners. Less likely but still possible is a similar combination headed by the conservative CDU/CSU, which got its worst result ever. A grand coalition of the SPD and the CDU/CSU — the two parties that have dominated German federal politics since World War II — is only a fallback option if talks fail badly.

Both the Greens and especially the FDP have been in coalition governments before. But this time it's different because together they have the upper hand in negotiations with the big parties wooing them.

The problem is that the two smaller parties agree on little beyond legalizing weed, and even when they do, diverge on how to reach common goals. So, where does each stand on what separates them?

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GZERO World S1E20: Rwandan President Paul Kagame

Rwandan President Paul Kagame

Remember when President Trump allegedly referred to many African nations as "sh&#hole countries"? Soon after in Davos, he met with a prominent leader of one of those countries: Rwandan president and head of the African Union, Paul Kagame.

In a wide-ranging and candid interview, President Kagame recounts that somewhat...sensitive...conversation and responds to his own critics who point to an increasingly authoritarian government in Kigali.

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