Courtesy of Mish.
Although there was huge popular support for a German Grand Coalition, the idea was never a good one.
Expecting the SPD/CDU mix to last was rather like expecting vinegar and oil to stay mixed. The two parties hardly agree on anything.
Broken Eggs
You can get vinegar and oil to mix if you break a few eggs in the process. But broken eggs, like broken egos do not make a good political mix.
Child-pornography revelations triggered this coalition crisis, but the trigger could have been anything. Regardless, trust and cooperation between CDU and SPD just flew out the window.
Eurointelligence comments from a week ago, and again from today, will fill you in on the sordid details.
Eurointelligence February 13
The German grand coalition government is less than 100 days old, but has its first big political scandal, which already saw the resignation of a senior minister in Angela Merkel’s cabinet. We had originally hoped to spare you this sordid story, which began with revelations of a child-pornography material allegedly purchased by an SPD MP, who has subsequently resigned.
That would normally be the end of this story. But small scandals become huge when mishandled politically – which is exactly what happened here.
The investigation into the scandal fell in the middle of last year’s coalition negotiations. The former interior minister, Hans-Peter Friedrich, leaked information of the investigation to Thomas Oppermann, a senior SPD politician, who then contacted the chief of Germany’s federal police force to extract further information. The overriding goal of both parties at the time was to keep the lid on the scandal and to prevent it from blowing up in the middle of the coalition talks.
When the details leaked out, Friedrich, who later became agriculture minister in the new Grand Coalition, was forced to quit by Merkel. The CSU, of which he is a member, is now seeking revenge, calling for the resignation of Oppermann, who has since become the SPD’s parliamentary leader.
There is now a question mark over Sigmar Gabriel, SPD party leader, and what he knew. There is also the allegation that the suspected pedophile MP may have received advanced warning of the investigation so that he had time to delete all the incriminating material.
Eurointelligence February 20 …
