Although supported by the government, the text did not collect, Thursday, April 7, at the Bundestag that 296 votes for, while 378 deputies voted against and that 9 abstained.
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CVIV-19 vaccination will not be mandatory in Germany. Thus decided the Bundestag, which, Thursday, April 7, voted at a large majority against a proposal for a law planning to introduce such an obligation for more than 60 years. Although supported by the government, the text collected only 296 votes for, while 378 deputies voted against and that 9 abstained. This result is a camouflet for the Social Democratic Chancellor, Olaf Scholz (SPD), which, in the hope of adopting the measure, had even brought back to Brussels to its foreign affairs minister, Annalya Baerbock (Greens), Who was preparing to participate in a NATO meeting on Ukraine.
Thursday’s vote puts an end to a soap opera started on November 30, 2021. That day, a week before succeeding Angela Merkel at the head of the government, Olaf Scholz said that a text offering the Mandatory vaccination would be examined by the Bundestag before the end of the year for entry into force “in early February or early March” 2022.
Before that date, the Future Chancellor had opposed such an obligation. To justify his flip-flop, he gave the following explanation: “We have always been on the fact that the greatest number would be convinced. If we had 80% of the population already vaccinated, or even more, like C ‘ is the case in other countries, the situation would be different and I would not have changed their minds. “At the time, 68% of the German population was vaccinated, situating the country in the European Union average But far behind Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Italy or France. Today, 76% of the Germans are doubly vaccinated, but only 59% received a booster dose.
Voting without group discipline
From the start, however, it was clear that such a measure would be difficult to adopt. Within its “Tricolore fire” coalition, Olaf Scholz quickly understood that consensus would be difficult to find, each of the three components of its majority being divided on the issue, whether SPD, Greens. But even more of the Liberal Democrats (FDP), including part of the elected minority but very combative – immediately announced that it would oppose any vaccine obligation.
In this politically sensitive context, and at the head of a country where the AntiVax movement has mobilized, Olaf Scholz opted for a prudent strategy: although the idea came from him, he has No wish that the government presents a bill preferring that it is the members who themselves propose one or more texts, before each of them votes in fine “according to his conscience”, in other words without group discipline.
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