Chapter XXXVII
In the Reichstag building in central Berlin, more than 500 parliamentarians were urgently summoned by Albert. What awaits them will be the craziest bill in German history.
A BMW car was parked in the parking area of the Capitol, and President Albert, who was up to 50 years old, slowly got out of the car with his hands on the door. Due to overexertion, Albert's health was much worse than that of his peers. Even Albert's secretary could see that the president's days were numbered.
Looking at the inscription on the Capitol, Albert's inner passion exploded as if a floodgate had been opened.
The main building is inlaid with a line of Gothic lettering "For the German people", which is just three words in German. But in Albert's view, three simple words can sum up all his ideas and pursuits during his presidency.
The Reichstag building in front of Albert's eyes, located in the heart of Berlin, is a symbol of German unity, embodying classical, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architectural styles. Due to Wilhelm II's opposition, the inscription "For the German people" was not inscribed until the First World War.
It has witnessed the glory and fall of Germany, and experienced every major choice of Germany.
Today, Albert, who is already beginning to show his old age and whose term is approaching, is determined to pass a bill in his final moments, a bill that pins hopes on Germany's revival.
Just as the Capitol is a mixture of glass and steel, so are the members of Congress. Independent-party legislators tend to vote fairly, while majority-based legislators often selfishly put their own party's interests first.
When Albert, accompanied by an aide, walked into the halls of the Capitol, Albert, who had been in politics for many years, immediately saw the frustration.
Almost all of the party's lawmakers gathered separately to discuss the president's upcoming bill. Parliamentarians from the parties, who maintain friendly relations with each other, are exchanging pleasantries, hinting to the public that they will be united in the vote.
Legislators from a major party, such as the Socialist National Party, occupy a large number of seats, even more than all the non-partisan parliamentarians next to each other combined.
Albert, who entered the hall, ignored the "performance" of the members of the council, strode to the center of the congressional hall, and stretched out his hands in a pant to support the wooden handrail placed in the center of the hall in advance. Such handrails were temporarily placed for Albert, who was in poor physical condition. A 0.4-meter-high pole was added to a mahogany table about one meter, and a pear wood chair was placed behind the table. In this way, Mr. President can sit more comfortably and continue when he is tired of speaking.
However, Albert apparently did not accept this feeling. Albert, who almost kicked the chair open, just grabbed the armrest with all his might.
Due to physical reasons, Albert had not had time to speak, and hot beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. However, Albert had already shown his reluctance to sit down with a weak kick.
It's an attitude! Many social democratic parliamentarians were somewhat surprised. Albert, who has always been mild-mannered, used such a way as an opening statement to show his tough attitude. They had a vague feeling that the motion brought by Albert might be a little tricky.
"Silence. Next, President Albert will explain the purpose of his current parliamentary meeting. The Speaker made a brief opening statement.
"Hello German parliamentarians. I am the President of the Weimar Republic, Albert. Albert, who was still a little gasping, stopped here and rested for a few seconds.
Unlike the exhaustion of his body, Albert's heart was extremely excited at this time. He had a hunch that what he was going to do today would be more significant than all the things he had done during his presidency in the past few years!
How long has it been since I became a politician that I've been so enthusiastic? How many times since he came into power, he has had to make compromises; And how many times have I had to make a decision that is contrary to my heart.
But now it seems that the passion in my heart has not dissipated, and the blood flowing in every vein has not cooled!
The corners of Albert's mouth rose slightly, and he said in a confident tone that he had not seen for a long time, like a young man, to the large number of parliamentarians: "Today, my proposal is very simple. That is to join a whole new party in Congress, the Socialist Workers' Party. At the same time, there is a proposal to create 300 additional seats for the Socialist Workers' Party. ”
As soon as Albert's words came out, there was an immediate uproar. A total of 300 seats will be added. This would be a major blow to the balance of power in the Diet, and the Social Democrats, who had the largest number of seats in the Diet, would be reduced to second place with 53 seats.
In the face of Albert's sudden withdrawal of this bill with huge impact and touching the vested interests of major parties. No matter how calm a person is, he can't help but cry out in surprise.
"There has never been a precedent for such a thing, it is completely unreasonable," shouted a tall, lanky man with a monocle build, who was the second-largest member of the Bolshevik Party in the Knesset.
"I protest, this is a destabilization of Congress."
"I protest too, it's a joke......"
Legislators from various major parties protested one after another, and the voices of dissatisfaction far outweighed the speaker's thin "quiet" voice.
"Mr. President, I don't think you have the right to increase the number of seats in Congress without permission. You don't even have the right to add this unknown party of garbage to Congress, let alone give them a seat. After the deputies had quieted down, an old member of the Social Democratic Party spoke slowly.
His voice wasn't loud, but it hit the nail on the head. That's right, Albert doesn't have this right!
The old congressman then joked: "If Your Excellency the President needs it, you can use your power of attorney to file a case." However, whether the case can be passed or not depends on the voting results. ”
Speaking of which, almost all the members of parliament present understood. Albert's proposal was unlikely to be adopted, at least for now, in the hands of the Social Democrats, the first party, and the Bolsheviks, the second. And the parliamentarians of these two political parties have just made their attitude clear.
A nonpartisan lawmaker sighed. In fact, he was very contemptuous of what the two major parties were doing. Everyone knows whether the Socialist Workers' Party is a small party that is not famous. How did the great victory that the whole country celebrated some time ago come about, and they will not know? It's just for their own interests.
The current Reichstag has long since ceased to be "for the sake of the German people."
Look at the sanctimonious members of Congress, who occasionally take advantage of the influence of their parents, occasionally take advantage of legal loopholes, and occasionally take advantage of human beauty; Crazy money, forming parties for personal gain, murderous and treacherous, and even collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country!
As a non-partisan parliamentarian who did not want to go along with it, he was very much in favor of President Albert bringing a clear stream of the Socialist Workers' Party to Congress. But Albert's appetite was too great, and if he could narrow the demand for additional seats, he might be able to barely get through. It is absolutely impossible to touch the core interests of the two major parties as it is now!
Didn't Albert know that this would cause a strong reaction?
Of course he knows, as an old fritter who has been in the political arena all his life. Albert knew too well the nature of those with vested interests. But he can't help it, he doesn't have time to slowly change the status quo!
Born to die, Albert wants to scrape bones and cure poison to remove the cancer in Congress!
There is so much that needs to be done in Germany today. Albert admits that he does not have time for gradual reform, and he does not even know if he will be able to survive until the end of his term.
What he has to do now is to do everything in his power to bring the Socialist Workers' Party to power. The next reforms will be carried out by this emerging party.
Albert was not sure if the Socialist Workers' Party could be overhauled and change the status quo that even he had not been able to change himself. But he is willing to believe in Zhang Chengtian, who leads this party, and believes in this young man who once clearly analyzed the current situation in Germany to himself in Stuttgart and accurately predicted the future.
At that time, Zhang Chengtian was just a small captain. Had it not been for his precise prediction of the timing of the Karp coup and the government's escape route, and his subsequent pre-arrival with the government-in-exile in Stuttgart, Albert, who was the president at the time, would not have been able to talk to this young man.
Ignoring the noise of the councillors, Albert happily thought that he might be kicking off a legend.