German conservative leader Friedrich Merz on Tuesday accused Chancellor Olaf Scholz of stoking “class warfare’’ as rivals faced off in the final parliamentary session before national elections on Feb. 23.
Germany’s lower house of parliament, Scholz said Merz’s conservative CDU/CSU alliance would lower taxes on the rich.
Merz, In a major speech in the Bundestag, said his own Social Democrats (SPD) would seek to relieve the burden on middle-income families.
The CDU/CSU’s proposals would reduces tax on the top one per cent of earners by some 34,000 euros (35,000 dollars), Scholz argued.
“That is more than a hairdresser earns in a whole year.’’
In contrast, Scholz’s SPD who lagged Merz’s centre-right bloc in the polls would save families with average incomes some 800 per year.
The rising taxes on the wealthiest to invest in education and infrastructure, he suggested.
In response, Merz said the chancellor was stirring up social envy and class warfare.
The 69-year-old accused Scholz of causing a sheer disaster on the German labour market, with the number of unemployed in Germany rising by some 400,000 to almost three million.
Also the current administration has 50,000 companies going bankrupt.
“You obviously no longer perceive reality at all,’’ said the CDU/CSU leader.
The chancellor also accused the CDU/CSU of presenting unfounded pledges, highlighting an alleged 100 billion euros annual gap. (dpa/NAN)
