SIX MONTHS before Germany’s general election, serious cracks are appearing in Angela Merkel’s ruling grand coalition over how to tackle the financial crisis in general and how to rescue car maker Opel in particular.
Opel managers have warned that it needs a €3.3 billion bailout to keep going its plants employing 26,000 directly in Germany and an estimated 300,000 people in secondary suppliers.
But Dr Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) are refusing “special treatment” for the company until troubled parent company General Motors presents a rescue plan in which it guarantees not to siphon off any funds Berlin makes available to Opel.
“Angela Merkel’s approach not to immediately start throwing money around is correct,” said CDU parliamentary leader Volker Kauder at the weekend. “Without a convincing rescue package, without new investors and without an engaged bank, Opel cannot hope for help. And a direct state involvement can be ruled out entirely.”
That has prompted a fiery reaction from leading Social Democrats (SPD), headed by foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, hoping to unseat Dr Merkel in September’s general election.
The SPD sees in the Opel crisis a chance to renew its traditional strength in the industrial Ruhr area, where many Opel plants are based.
“Politicians have to act and fight for every job, not fail to decide because of fear of decision,” said Mr Steinmeier, in a swipe at Dr Merkel’s wait-and-see style.
So far, there have been no concrete sign that any banks or white knight investor is interested in saving Opel. That has set Germany’s two largest political parties at each other’s throats.
The reason is clear: half a year before voters go to the polls, the CDU and SPD are polling badly with just 33 per cent and 27 per cent respectively, even worse than the disastrous 2005 election results of 35 and 34 per cent.
Both sides know they need to score some quick political points or end the 2009 general election where they began, in another grand coalition.
The SPD strategy is to undermine Dr Merkel’s unbroken popularity by making her appear unable or unwilling to intervene in crucial crisis-hit sectors such as the car industry, employing one in eight German voters.
They are adding to pressure Dr Merkel is facing from within her own party. On one hand, Dr Merkel’s hands-off strategy reflects a recent poll showing three quarters of party supporters opposed to CDU-led company nationalisation. On the other hand, almost all Opel factories are in CDU-ruled federal states where state premiers and local MPs are coming under pressure to act to save jobs.
“At the moment, Merkel has had no recipe for rescuing her party and attracting new voters,” said Manfred Güllner of polling agency Forsa. Some 84 per cent of CDU voters may switch their support to the opposition, liberal Free Democrats, he added.
