Ines Schwerdtner, the leader of The Left party, has sharply criticized the black-and-red governing coalition for allowing the fuel discount to expire without replacement. Speaking to the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland, Schwerdtner stated, “The federal government must deliver, yet all that prevails is bewildered silence.” She pointed out that while the war in the Middle East continues and mineral oil prices remain high, the federal government is letting the tank discount lapse without having a new measure ready. She accused the government of being “clearly unwilling to help the people in the country with real relief.”
Schwerdtner put forward several demands for easing the financial burden. These include reducing the electricity tax to a minimum, establishing price surveillance for fuel, and suspending value-added tax (VAT) on basic foodstuffs. Furthermore, she insisted that oil corporations needed to be held more accountable. As examples of this accountability, the Left party chairperson suggested implementing retroactive excess profit taxes and capping profit margins.
Schwerdtner argued that any revenue generated from increased taxation on the oil companies could be used to “finance real relief measures” without placing additional strain on the budget. She concluded her statement to the RND by saying that the government “obviously lacks the political courage” necessary to take action against the mineral oil corporations.
