German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has released his finance minister - the leader of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) Christian Lindner, reports dpa.
Today, the leaders of the three parties in the ruling coalition - Scholz's Social Democrats, the SDP and the Greens - met to try to find a way out of the political and economic crisis in the country. The three parties cannot reach a consensus on economic policy and have been arguing for weeks about how to get Germany out of the crisis. The country is facing a number of difficulties, including recession.
Liberals insist on early elections
Lindner has proposed that the next elections, due to be held in Germany in the fall of 2025, be called as early as possible. Olaf Scholz has requested his withdrawal.
"Lindner violated my trust too often," Scholz told the media. "What's next? Federal Minister Lindner will be released. I agree with Vice Chancellor Habeck that Germany urgently needs another political course. The regular date for next fall's federal election is still a long way off. By Christmas, we will put to a vote all laws and proposals that cannot be postponed", the chancellor also said. After the new year, Scholz will propose a vote of confidence for the Bundestag to decide whether to hold early elections by the end of March.
Slight chance of finding another majority in this Bundestag
The government of Olaf Scholz, nominated by the coalition of social democrats, liberals and greens, known as "Traffic light", came to power after tough negotiations in 2021. Since then, the tension between its various members has not stopped, but lately it has become more and more visible. At the same time, approval for Scholz and the individual parties in the coalition is falling, with the SDP in danger of not even entering the next Bundestag. At the same time, the extreme right registered historic successes.
Olaf Scholz stated that he will seek a conversation with the leader of the largest opposition party CDU/CSU - Friedrich Merz. However, gathering another majority in the current German parliament seems unlikely. Read more about the possible scenarios if the governing coalition collapses here.