Olaf Scholz’s government has been considered weak. The three-party coalition eventually fell over disagreements over the economy.
Markus Heikkilä,
Leonard Wilhelmus
21:38•Updated 23:16
in Germany By Olaf Scholz the government coalition of social democrats, greens and liberal democrats has collapsed.
Minister of Finance representing the Free Democrats Christian Lindner suggested on Wednesday to Scholz that new elections be held at the beginning of next year. Scholz did not agree to this demand and has dismissed Lindner from the board.
At the press conference, the Chancellor laid the reason for the breakup of the three-party coalition on Lindner’s neck. The Chancellor accused Lindner of being selfish and playing political games. According to Scholz, it is selfish that Lindner was ready to overthrow the coalition the day after the US presidential election.
The coalition collapsed due to disagreements between Linder and the Greens and Democrats on economic issues. The parties did not reach an agreement on how to close the gap of one billion euros in the 2025 budget.
Lindner says that Scholz had demanded the removal of the debt brake.
– Proposals to improve the economy were not even discussed, Lindner told the press.
Without the Liberal Democrats, Scholz’s SPD and the Greens do not have a majority in the Bundestag.
A vote of confidence at the beginning of next year
Scholz says that the Greens and the SPD will continue as a minority government for the rest of the year. In mid-January, Scholz plans to hold a vote of confidence at the Bundestag on the continuation of the government. If the government does not receive the confidence of the Bundestag, early elections will be held in Germany, in March at the earliest.
The future of the government coalition consisting of three parties was at stake during Wednesday evening, when Scholz representing the Social Democrats, Finance Minister Lindner and the Minister of Economy and Climate representing the Greens Robert Habeck met The meeting was seen as the last attempt to save the unity of the government.
The trio discussed the difficult financial situation and solutions to it. Everyone had their own suggestions for solving the situation, but no consensus on them.
Lindner recently called for major changes in economic policy, such as major tax cuts for the rich and relaxation of climate regulation. They were unacceptable for the Greens and Social Democrats.
The support of the German government is miserable. The percentage of support for the three parties is a total of about 30 percent, says, among other things, the periodical Der Spiegel.
The largest opposition party, the Christian Democrats CDU/CSU, alone has enjoyed more than 30 percent support in polls.