Germany may hold snap election next year as Scholz’s coalition collapses
Global News
Chancellor Olaf Scholz will have to rely on cobbled-together majorities to pass legislation and he plans to hold a parliamentary confidence vote in his government on Jan. 15.
Germany’s ruling coalition collapsed on Wednesday as Chancellor Olaf Scholz sacked his finance minister and paved the way for a snap election, triggering political chaos in Europe’s largest economy hours after Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election.
After sacking Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the Free Democrats (FDP) party, Scholz is expected to head a minority government with his Social Democrats and the Greens, the second-largest party.
He would have to rely on cobbled-together parliamentary majorities to pass legislation and he plans to hold a parliamentary confidence vote in his government on Jan. 15.
The collapse of Scholz’s three-way alliance caps months of wrangling over budget policy and Germany’s economic direction, with the government’s popularity sinking and far-right and far-left forces surging.
“We need a government that is able to act, that has the strength to make the necessary decisions for our country,” Scholz told reporters.
Scholz said he fired Lindner for his obstructive behavior on budget disputes, accusing the minister of putting party before country and blocking legislation on spurious grounds.
The move comes a day after the election of Republican Donald Trump as U.S. president, with Europe scrambling to form a united response on issues from possible new U.S. tariffs to Russia’s war in Ukraine and the future of the NATO alliance.
The government crisis comes at a critical juncture for Germany, with a flatlining economy, aging infrastructure and an unprepared military.
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