In Germany, all the ministers of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) are leaving the government coalition. On Wednesday, following the dismissal of the Minister of Finance Christian Lindner, the Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz, announced that he would propose a vote of confidence in the Bundestag at its meeting on the 15th of January next year.
According to German media reports, the leader of the German Liberals and Minister of Finance said during a crisis meeting in Berlin yesterday that he saw no prospect of a continuation of the coalition and suggested to Chancellor Olaf Scholz to call early elections to the Bundestag early next year. Instead, Scholz proposed his dismissal.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz dismissed the Minister of Finance, Christian Lindner, on Wednesday, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit confirmed, according to the German news agency dpa. The dismissal of Lindner, who is the leader of the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP), comes after disagreements over economic reforms within the government coalition, of which the FDP is also a member.
All ministers of the German Liberals (FDP) are therefore leaving the government coalition, Christian Dürr, leader of the party’s group in the Bundestag, announced on Wednesday evening. The party’s decision comes after Chancellor Olaf Scholz dismissed the FDP Finance Minister Christian Lindner after weeks of disputes over economic reforms and the budget. The ministers of the Free Democratic Party – three FDP members are sitting in the government alongside Lindner – are expected to resign collectively, marking the effective end of the three-member coalition led by Scholz’s Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), according to the announcement. In addition to the two parties mentioned above, the other member of the coalition are the Greens.
The government is on the verge of collapse
On Wednesday, Scholz convened talks between the coalition partners to prevent the government from collapsing. The fate of the coalition, made up of the Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the Free Democratic Party (FDP), was already hanging in the balance after months of disputes over economic reforms and the budget.
On Wednesday, however, Scholz announced, after Lindner’s dismissal, that he would propose a vote of confidence at the Bundestag meeting on the 15th of January next year. If he does not win the vote of confidence, he will launch a process to call snap elections by the end of March.
This was also suggested to the Chancellor earlier by Lindner, who said during a crisis meeting of the coalition partners that he saw no possibility of continuing the coalition.
The third coalition partner, the Greens, was critical of Lindner. The party co-leader Robert Habeck accused Lindner of being selfish and putting personal politics before the national interest, the German news agency dpa reported.
The dismissal of the Minister of Finance came after disagreements over economic reforms within the government coalition. The fate of the government coalition had previously been hanging in the balance after months of disputes over economic reforms and the budget. The main issue was how to plug the billion-dollar hole in the 2025 budget and how to get the limping German economy back on its feet.
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