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Hours after Donald Trump’s victory in the US Presidential Elections was announced, Germany’s political landscape began to crumble. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s unpopular three-party coalition disintegrated on Wednesday evening when he dismissed Finance Minister Christian Lindner due to ongoing disagreements over economic reforms and spending.
Following Lindner’s dismissal, his fiscally conservative Free Democratic Party (FDP) withdrew from the coalition, prompting Scholz to call for a confidence vote. However, the Chancellor is pushing for this vote to occur on January 15th, despite opposition parties demanding an immediate vote.
The ruling coalition in #Germany has collapsed after Chancellor @OlafScholz sacked finance minister @c_lindner. Germany is now facing an uncertain political future. Snap #elections may be organized by March next year. pic.twitter.com/sOlmnItmK9
— TVP World (@TVPWorld_com) November 7, 2024
A survey conducted by polling agency Forsa for RTL and NTV television channels revealed that 73% of German citizens support the collapse of the ruling “Traffic Light” coalition. If Scholz loses the confidence vote, as expected, a snap election is likely to take place by March.
Reuters reported on the situation, noting that Scholz plans to lead a minority government consisting of his Social Democrats and the Greens until early next year. Meanwhile, Friedrich Merz, leader of the center-right Christian Democrats, is calling for an immediate no-confidence vote and new elections.
Scholz maintains his stance on delaying the confidence vote, stating, “The citizens will soon have the opportunity to decide anew how to proceed. That is their right. I will therefore put the vote of confidence to the Bundestag at the beginning of next year.”
A meeting between Scholz and Merz ended without compromise after less than an hour. Merz firmly rejected the idea of waiting until January for a confidence vote, arguing, “The coalition no longer has a majority in the German Bundestag, and we therefore call on the chancellor to call a vote of confidence immediately, or at the latest by the beginning of next week. We simply cannot afford to have a government without a majority in Germany for several months now, and then campaign for several more months, and then possibly conduct coalition negotiations for several weeks.”
As Germany’s political crisis unfolds, the country faces an uncertain future with potential far-reaching consequences for both domestic and European politics.
