CSU man Söder
Photo: Peter Kneffel / DPA"Nothing is perfect." What seems like a banal statement is actually much more, because Markus Söder uttered the sentence at a press conference on Thursday afternoon in Munich, followed by the words: "Not Melanie and neither do I."
It's not an admission of guilt, but an apology. Markus Söder rarely sounded so meek.
A lot has to happen for the CSU chairman and Bavarian Prime Minister to repent in public. A lot has happened too. In Bavaria, tens of thousands of corona test results have been wasted by travelers returning, a potentially serious mistake in the nationwide fight against pandemics. 908 people with positive results were left in the dark for days that they were potential virus spreaders. It is possible that they have lulled themselves into a false sense of security and infected friends, relatives, family members because they have not received any news about their own health.
"Corona is getting more and more dangerous," warned Söder on Monday after a meeting of his cabinet in Nuremberg. He was right. For the first time since the outbreak of the corona pandemic, the CSU politician is experiencing a crisis that could be dangerous for him.
"The Melanie", that is Söder Health Minister Melanie Huml. She stands dejected and overtired next to him at the press conference this Thursday. Until well after midnight she monitored the attempts to limit the damage in the Bavarian State Office for Health, says the CSU politician That morning, the list of around a thousand infected people will finally be systematically telephoned. Two times, says Prime Minister Söder, the minister offered him her resignation, which he refused.
How generous.
"We have to learn from mistakes," said Söder, justifying his decision. With this blanket formulation, he also tries to put his own share in the disaster into perspective. It may be that the test failures did not happen in the State Chancellery. But Söder did set the pace at which the idea of rapid test centers on motorways, airports and train stations was apparently pushed to the wall. And as Prime Minister he has political responsibility.
Since the beginning of July, every citizen in Bavaria has been able to be tested for Corona free of charge and without cause. But that was not enough for Söder. As always, he wanted to be a pioneer. Instead of waiting for the start signal from the federal government to introduce mandatory tests for return travelers, the test centers had to be built overnight on his initiative. With voluntary helpers from the Bavarian Red Cross, among others, because no operator could be commissioned so quickly, completely without digital test evaluation software.
Söder actually wanted to shine on the North Sea on Thursday
Actually, Söder would have wanted to hike watts on the North Sea on Thursday. Schleswig-Holstein's CDU Prime Minister Daniel Günther wanted to show him seal banks, Halligen and the Westerhever lighthouse. Söder would have presented himself to the Northern Lights as the shadow chancellor and at some point would have repeated the sentence with a wink that he always said when asked about his ambitions as the successor to Angela Merkel: "My place is in Bavaria".
Now the sentence is correct for the first time. Söder canceled the trip. Ultimately, it is important to contain the second wave in the Free State.
The press conference in Munich is indeed a lesson in crisis communication. It wasn't he who was too overzealous, explains Söder, but the dynamics of the corona pandemic too great: "The pace is not determined by us, but Corona drives us on and around." So it was not he who put pressure on, but the undreamt-of crowd at the test stations is to blame. Bavaria is the only federal state that tests returnees for free, regardless of their license plate number. Söder emphasizes that there have been considerations of only offering the test to those returning to travel with residence in Bavaria.
Megalomania, as accused by the opposition in Bavaria and in the federal government? Iwo. The idea was good. But reality is not yet ready for it. That's how Söder sees it.
Of course, what is happening to him right now can basically happen to any top politician with government responsibility: Some of their projects fail because of reality. Especially if, like Söder, you belong to the category of politicians who first try to implement ambitious plans without letting them stay the same.
The problem, however, is that in this case the Söder brand could be seriously damaged in 2020. Because the CSU politician's demoscopic and journalistic soaring seems to be due primarily to the fact that Söder has appeared as a consistent and competent crisis manager in recent months. Now, for many, Söder is exactly the political loudmouth that people got to know him in earlier years.
The test disaster reveals Söder's greatest weakness
The test disaster exemplifies the weakness of the supposedly strong man at the top of the Free State: Söder prefers to solve problems quickly and with the help of the thick wallet that his predecessors left him in office. The headline has to be right, the idea has to be good. How it is implemented in the end is of secondary importance.
So far, Söder has always been able to rely on the efficient Bavarian administration, which in case of doubt extinguishes its fireworks of ideas when things start to burn somewhere. In addition, he has a loyal staff that puts a stop to him if the actionist Söder threatens to overturn. Already on Monday, Söder appointed his state chancellery boss Florian Herrmann as the highest Bavarian "Corona coordinator". But even he obviously couldn't stop his boss from setting up "Bavarian test centers" in every independent city and in every district at the beginning of last week.
Germans may find political loudmouthing interesting, but they trust the competent, especially in times of crisis. Armin Laschet, Prime Minister Söders 'colleague from North Rhine-Westphalia, had to experience this painfully when, like in a survey paternoster, he continued to sag while Söders' popularity rose. Laschet was never loudmouthed, but he was always clumsy in corona communication - since then he has been on the ropes.
In any case, no one could blame the CDU politician, who first wants to succeed party leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and then Chancellor Angela Merkel, with a view to Söder, for a little glee. Just like other Christian Democrats, who have been annoyed by the self-confident demeanor of the CSU boss for a long time.
No, Markus Söder just can't walk on water. What the test disaster means for his political ambitions will become clear in the coming weeks and months. In any case, what felt like the coming Chancellor Söder has become the CSU Chairman Söder again, who could play a role in the race for the Union Chancellor candidacy - but primarily has to take care of fighting the corona crisis in Bavaria.
No more and no less.
Icon: The mirror