Germany Is Jealous of Us!

Before the election in Germany, the name of the centre-right candidate Armin Laschet was mentioned as the strongest candidate for chancellor. Laschet, a journalist with a law background who took care to stay in close touch with every part of society, always showed a moderate attitude towards migrants as well. Laschet, who never neglected his meetings with representatives of the Turkish community, was even given the nickname “Turkish Armin”.

Laschet had once again won applause from the Turkish community by praising Uğur Şahin, who developed the coronavirus vaccine, in parliament. Unfortunately, Laschet handing out blue beads to everyone did not work very well. The mistakes he made one after another cost him points. The narrow margin between the winner and the loser of the election also points to these small mistakes.

For example, Laschet had visited the flood area together with Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Seen laughing with the people next to him in the background during the President’s press statement, Laschet came in for a storm of criticism for his lack of seriousness. Laschet said, “I should not have done it, I apologise”, but it was not enough.

German society paid attention not only to what the strongest candidate for chancellor said but also to what he did not say, and this trait of society pushed Laschet to a defeat he did not expect. For example, shortly before the election, Tesla founder Elon Musk had visited Germany for the factory he planned to build. The lucky politician Armin Laschet, seizing the opportunity, was there too.

Laschet, who posed for the cameras with Elon Musk and made a joint statement with the air of representing the state, was this time in for a surprise from fearless journalists. Just as Laschet was scoring points by asking Elon Musk witty questions, the famous question came: “Will the new factory trigger the water problem in Germany?” Elon Musk, as might be expected of him, answered this question with an American sense of humour and burst out laughing.

The candidate for chancellor, well aware of German society’s sensitivity on issues such as water, the environment and nature, unfortunately failed to show the expected reaction. He simply joined in the laughter and, of course, did not escape criticism either.

Years before Laschet, another German politician at the top had also had to bid farewell to the political stage. The reasons that led German Federal President Christian Wulff to resign were again the sensitivity of society and the media.

The country’s new president Wulff had taken a home loan from a businessman’s family while he was Prime Minister of Lower Saxony. Of course, this did not stay secret, and allegations began to appear in the newspapers about the most powerful man of the ruling party. Germany’s youngest president, perhaps out of inexperience, phoned the editor-in-chief of the newspaper to stop it publishing the allegations about him. The fearless journalist, on the receiving end of a “Hello Fatih” move, replied to the president who had called him: “We have no reverse gear, Mr President!” and published both the story and the messages the president had left him. That was the last straw. The brand-new president was shown the way to resignation and the courts.

After reading all this, when one looks at one’s own beautiful homeland, the question comes to mind: “Why don’t we too have fearless journalists, politicians who lose elections because they talk and laugh in the wrong places, presidents criticised for dubious financial dealings and, most importantly, a society that scrutinises the politicians it has elected or will elect?”

According to the famous journalist Gerard Ryle, the name behind the Panama Papers, “noticing injustice” is reason enough for a journalist to take action. The first lesson journalists are taught is “to share what is happening with society”.

No need to say more: “Germany is jealous of us.”