Germany - a sham democracy?
An article on how German voters are losing trust in their political system
Dear Reader,
I have to say that this is a piece of news that really surprised me.
A survey released today by the Allensbach Institute found that a third of Germans believe they live in a “sham democracy” in which “normal citizens have no voice.”
In east Germany a full 45% said that Germany is a Scheindemokratie, while 28% of those in the west agreed.
In general, 28% said that German democracy needs to be “fundamentally changed.”
It is more than mildly worrying that such a large number of people see the institutions of their country as a facade. It suggests a lack of trust in all of the pillars of democracy: the media, the parliaments, the executive and the judiciary.
Lockdowns are likely to have played their part. During the pandemic many people realized for the first time what it means to have their liberties taken away. But there are no doubt deeper trends at work here.
Some of these affect many western democracies. Various phenomena, from the strains of globalisation to the spread of disinformation online, have been proposed to explain the growing distrust in democratic institutions across the West.
But there are particular aspects of German democracy that could be exacerbating the problem.
For instance, it is common practice for journalists to give politicians the chance to ‘correct’ interviews before publication. Officially this is supposed to stop confusing statements being published. But many politicians exploit this privilege to erase anything even slightly controversial. The result is softball journalism.
I have also written about the lack of debate in the Bundestag . The German voting system, which allows people into the parliament via party lists, stifles rebellion.
There is currently also a problem with the Constitutional Court, which is supposed to be the supreme check on executive overreach. The court’s head judge is a Merkel loyalist who spent years in the Bundestag as a member of her CDU party. Stephan Harbarth might claim that he dropped his loyalties the moment he became a judge, but the fact that someone so close to the former Chancellor was even able to assume such an important position is itself problematic.
The Kremlin’s long arm
Another week, another raft of questions about how deeply the Kremlin penetrated parts of the Social Democratic Party (SPD).
This time it is the state government of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (MV) that has questions to answer.
Last year that SPD-led state announced that it had set up an environmental foundation called “Climate and Environmental Protection MV” with the stated goal of “furthering environmental projects in the Baltic Sea region.”
In fact, the organisation was funded with an initial €20 million by Nord Stream AG and was set up primarily to subvert sanctions that had been placed by the US on any company involved in completing the pipeline.
Emails published by Welt am Sonntag this week lay bare just how much influence Nord Stream AG - a subsidiary of Russia’s state-owned energy company Gazprom - had over the environmental foundation.
The emails reveal that Nord Stream AG worked with the state government on plans to use the organisation as a cover for the completion of the pipeline, with the company proposing tricks that would allow its own employees to work there incognito.
The tone of the email exchanges makes it seem as if Nord Stream AG were calling the shots.
“I would be happy to receive your wording as soon as possible. Inconsistency in statements and other discrepancies can then be discussed first thing in the morning and swiftly remedied," a Nord Stream PR man told a state minister in one email.
The company, which is run by ex-Stasi agent and Putin confidant Matthias Warnig, even asked to secretly listen in on calls between ministers and journalists. The state government appears not to have objected.
To this day, parts of the foundation's operations remain hidden from the public.
MVP state leader Manuela Schwesig conceded last week that she had “made a mistake” in establishing Climate and Environmental Protection MV, but she hasn’t offered to hand in her resignation.
The SPD and their innocent “mistakes” - it’s almost as if politicians shouldn’t be held accountable for extreme gullibility.
A costly holiday
On the subject of resignations, Anne Spiegel has become the first federal minister to be forced out of her job since Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg packed his bags over a plagiarism scandal eleven years ago.
Spiegel only became Families Minister in December but her party, the Greens, told her to quit in the wake of revelations that she spent a month on holiday in France in the immediate aftermath of the deadly floods in Ahrtal.
At the time, Spiegel was minister for the environment in Rhineland-Palatinate and, as such, should have been directly involved in the relief effort after flash floods left over a hundred people dead and many more homeless.
To make matters worse, the 41 year old lied to Bild Zeitung, to whom she falsely claimed that she still took part in cabinet meetings while away.
In a last ditch attempt to save her job, Spiegel called journalists to an impromptu press conference at 9pm last night, where she explained that she had needed to take a break from the pressures of working and looking after four young children.
The Green party leadership weren’t impressed. This morning they made clear to her that she would have to go in order to protect the party’s reputation.
In case you missed it
On Wednesday I took a closer look at German trade links to Russia and Ukraine
On Friday I asked whether the energy crisis will change German attitudes to fracking?
What else?
Bild Zeitung claims to have found the hideout of ex-Wirecard exec and Germany’s most wanted man, Jan Marsalek. The tabloid reports that he fled to Moscow where he is living under the protection of the FSB spy agency. The tabloid is even claiming a political scandal. The FSB offered the BND (Germany’s spy agency) the chance to interview him. The BND branch in Moscow supposedly sent the offer on to the Chancellery… and never heard back. The offer came just weeks before Merkel was to face parliamentary questions about her role in promoting Wirecard in China. Full story (German).
Senior figures in the SPD have joined the Green party in demanding the introduction of an autobahn speed limit in order to reduce reliance on Russian oil imports. The story is probably getting more attention than it deserves given that the savings would be small in the grand scheme of things. But the Free Democrats are starting to look ever more dogmatic in their insistence that freie fahrt für freie Bürger is not up for debate.
With prices at the pump at record highs, ever more thieves are turning to stealing diesel. Logistics firms have increased security around their trucks after several incidents of criminals tapping the diesel out of their tanks. Another trick that is becoming more popular is filling up at the pump while using stolen licence plates and them simply driving away.
Reading tip
Konrad Adenauer is the father of modern German democracy. The CDU man, who was German Chancellor from 1949 to 1963 tied West Germany into the western democratic world. He stood for stability and moderation and is venerated to this day. The CDU’s Berlin HQ is named after him, as is their party think tank.
But his reputation has just taken a bruising. Historians have discovered that he used the BND spy agency to pass on information on his political opponents for years. It is being described as a German Watergate. The Guardian has the whole story.
Quote of the week
“He knows no limits when it comes to buying vaccines. He orders whatever is there!”
- CDU health spokesman Tino Sorge responds to news that Health Minister Karl Lauterbach keeps ordering Covid vaccines despite the fact that hardly anyone is getting vaccinated. Since 2021 Germany has ordered 677 million doses, of which only 172 million have been used. 60 million of these will have to be thrown away if they haven’t been injected by September.
Have a great week,
Jörg Luyken