Habeck's and Lindner's dispute over letters is unworthy

Cicero said: A letter does not blush. If cabinet members, so-called coalition partners, put their communication in writing, as Economics Minister Robert Habeck and Finance Minister Christian Lindner have now done, it has less to do with blushing than with the fact that the two do not agree with each other. This leads to an approach that is unworthy of a governing coalition.

So that there is no misunderstanding: disputes within a coalition are not bad. Discussion is a prerequisite for compromise. However, the letter that Habeck wrote to Lindner does not sound like a willingness to compromise.

With regard to the budget, he calls on behalf of the Green Minister von Lindner not to make any further preliminary decisions that unilaterally prioritize further expenditure. In the words, the insinuation resonates that Lindner would favor FDP-related projects. According to Habeck, he does not want to question the debt brake, but the government must discuss “how we can improve income”. That means tax increases.

In his reply, Lindner does not skimp on sarcasm: He accepts "with relief" that the Greens "do not question the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany". And then explains that the political plans of the coalition agreement are constitutionally subordinate to compliance with the Basic Law, i.e. the debt brake.

In dealing with each other, this is reminiscent of black and yellow reigns. The Finance Minister at the time, Wolfgang Schäuble, refused the FDP tax cuts, as agreed in the coalition agreement - with a similar justification as Lindner gives to the Greens today: Budget consolidation has priority. The alliance between the Union and the FDP, which started out as a “desirable coalition”, ended up as a quarreling bunch at “wild boar” level.

The traffic light, unlike black and yellow, has never been a desired constellation. Nevertheless, the Greens and Liberals have come out with the claim of a new style of politics. Doing politics, Habeck and Lindner do with their correspondence. But it doesn't have style.