The demonstrators first have to rehearse their message to the Federal Chancellor. “We’re now practicing again how to greet Scholz,” calls a local AfD politician from the back of a blue pickup truck. Instantly, protesters are blasting their whistles and horns, banging on drums and yelling “Get out, get out, get out!”
Two hours before Olaf Scholz’s visit to Magdeburg, the demonstrators are standing in a meadow on a four-lane road, the sun is beating down, a few cans of beer are being opened. “Stop traitors to the people!” and “Open Nord Stream 2 against energy emergency” read on banners.
“Now the time for resistance has come,” says a Saxony-Anhalt AfD member of the state parliament, lamenting the high gas prices, inflation and arms deliveries to Ukraine. “We are not prepared to give up our prosperity for Ukraine.” The audience banged their drums enthusiastically. But they miss their big performance. The bodyguards lead the Chancellor’s limousine unnoticed down a side street to the venue.
The chancellor talks with 150 randomly chosen citizens will take place in the Mark Fortress, a former defensive barracks. Of all things. The chancellor has been in defensive mode for weeks. The bizarre appearance in front of the Cum-Ex investigative committee in Hamburg, the downplaying of the Holocaust by Palestinian President Abbas in the Chancellery, the anger about the maskless government flight to Canada.
It’s a difficult summer for Scholz, also personally. The constant comparisons with Robert Habeck gnaw at him. In a recent “Spiegel” survey on the chancellor question, he came in third, far behind the Green Economics Minister. Still behind CDU leader Friedrich Merz and on a par with Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder.
But in the Mark Fortress in Magdeburg, Scholz experiences a peaceful evening. Under a large awning in the courtyard of the brick building, there are pretzels, cakes and cold drinks – non-alcoholic beer is also promised after the Chancellor’s meeting. The audience favors the chancellor, applauds politely as he steps onto the round stage. Then the question marathon begins.
“What about the future of the nine-euro ticket?” Danielo from Magdeburg wants to know. “First of all, the nine-euro ticket is a great thing,” says Scholz. But you can’t keep it up forever at that price. However, the traffic light gained important insights: “We found out that the tariff associations are far too small,” says Scholz to Danielo, who is a trainee at Deutsche Bahn. Then the Chancellor promises a successor model. “We have made it our goal that we will develop something that is now coming soon.”
It’s a typical Scholz sentence. A little awkward, pretty vague. Scholz will remain so with the next questions about compulsory insurance for the self-employed (“there’s more to come”), the future of language day-care centers (“that’s going to be built into a program”) or further relief due to inflation (“there’s more to come other things we do”).
In Saxony-Anhalt, the oldest federal state in the republic with an average age of around 48 years, Scholz has to explain a particularly large number of questions about the situation of pensioners. “We have made it our goal to do something about it,” says Scholz. Later he promised twice more that he would support the pensioners in the third relief package. That resonates with the audience.
The chancellor doesn’t let himself be put off by unusual questions: “Are you planning to use emetic torture? And if so, can you start with Christian Lindner?” a man from Burg near Magdeburg wants to know. Scholz grins, but then explains dryly about his time as Hamburg Senator for the Interior, when he had emetics used against dealers who swallowed drugs to hide them. “European courts did not consider this to be a suitable way,” says Scholz, which is why no one is planning to use it. “Furthermore, I think that you are doing Mr. Lindner a complete injustice.”
It is a colorful bouquet of questions that the Federal Chancellor will be confronted with in Magdeburg. A man asks why dog food is taxed at seven percent but baby food at 19 percent. “There is no one at all who understands that,” Scholz replies. A pensioner wants to know why the chancellor doesn’t communicate more often. A weekly program on ARD or ZDF, “in which you, as chancellor, explain the world,” he suggests to Scholz. He thanks him for the idea, but then refers to his podcast.
“When will Bubatz become legal, Mr. Chancellor?” finally asks Carsten Müller. The Chancellor is prepared for the question of cannabis legalization. “In this legislature,” he promises again vaguely. The Chancellor admits that it took him a while to get that right. He knows a lot of people “who have smoked their brains out”.
Other topics are not of interest in Magdeburg. No question about Cum-Ex, no question about Corona, no question about climate protection. Scholz is asked about the Ukraine conflict several times. “Don’t you have the feeling that we are gradually being drawn into the war because of the arms deliveries?” a man from Magdeburg asks him.
Russia has violated all principles, Scholz replies: “It is important that we support Ukraine in repelling an imperialist attack.” However, Scholz promises that there will be no going it alone when it comes to arms deliveries. “It’s always level-headed and thoughtful. I want to give you that as a guarantee,” says Scholz. There is a long round of applause for that.
Unlike in front of the fortress, Scholz is well received in the inner courtyard. In the federal elections, he did remarkably well in the eastern German states. Although the Chancellor in Magdeburg often remains technical, does not tell private anecdotes and does not use humorous punch lines, his calm, factual manner is appreciated by the audience.
“Such town meetings are what I like most about what I do politically,” Scholz explains at the end. He should have been a bit more specific, rail trainee Danielo criticizes afterwards. Overall, however, he is satisfied: “The format is a nice idea. His predecessor didn’t do anything like that.” Then he stands in line. To say goodbye, each guest gets a selfie with the chancellor.
