When Merz failed, Söder saw the Third Reich emerging: But this was democracy at its best – Commentary

Talk quickly turned to treason, to a threat to democracy. The stability of the state was threatened. When Friedrich Merz was not elected Chancellor by the Bundestag in the first round of voting, the hour of the crash prophets struck. One of the most outlandish remarks came from CSU leader Markus Söder , who said: "The danger of the failure of this stable democratic process could ultimately be a harbinger of Weimar, because the consequences are unforeseeable."

At least the shock was understandable, given that such a case had never occurred before in the history of the Federal Republic. Merz's election defeat remains historic. But was it ever a threat to democracy? Has the so-called democratic center been damaged?

The core of democracy is revealed in voting out

The essence of democracy is debatable. Separation of powers, the rule of law, free and fair elections—all of these are part of it, but above all: the ability to vote out political decision-makers. The act of voting out reveals the core of a democratic constitution. The way democracies are structured, not only does the people directly elect a person, but also their legitimate representatives. A vote of recall or—as happened on Tuesday—a refusal to participate in the election is therefore a golden moment for democracy. It didn't even require a massive mutiny in parliament, because candidate Merz only had a surplus of twelve votes.

A few scattered dissatisfied voters, injured parties who missed out on seats in the allocation of seats, who could have come from either party, were enough to cause his first round of voting to fail. There were 18 of them in total in the first round. The defeat may not have been a concerted effort; there is no evidence of such a coup so far. But it does express a deep dissatisfaction. The apparatus came to a standstill, the gears grinded, because even for a coalition that would once have been called a "great" coalition, there is only a narrow majority.

The fact that the refusal to vote in the first round seemed so threatening to many observers clearly demonstrates the German desire for stability. The certainty of a completed election is more important than a place for pent-up resentment over political failure, was the tenor, ranging from the Greens to the AfD. Green parliamentary group leader Katharina Dröge then also stated that people expected the future coalition to have "a solid working foundation." It almost sounded as if she had longed for a Merz government. Even AfD parliamentary group leader Bernd Baumann declared: "The government will remain unstable; that is the opposite of what the country needs."

The Black-Red coalition will have to act like a minority government

Now there is a government under Chancellor Merz. Whether it will be a stable one remains to be seen. It is possible that it will have to fight for a majority every time it passes legislation, as it did on Tuesday. Although the CDU/CSU and the Reds have a majority in the Bundestag, they will still have to act like a minority government . This could be advantageous for democratic negotiation processes, however: majorities are not guaranteed, and pure rule by design is impossible.

Anyone who truly cares about the prosperity of democracy would be wise not to immediately proclaim its demise with every unforeseen event. Comparisons with the Weimar Republic have become so overused that it would hardly be noticed if the present actually bore parallels to that era. They are therefore primarily an indication of the laziness of their authors—and their hubris. Democracy would have survived even if Merz had not been elected, and much more. Even a new election. One should really worry when recalls are no longer possible.