Germany’s centre-right opposition leader, Friedrich Merz has called for an immediate vote of confidence to be held in parliament, after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ruling coalition collapsed.
Merz, the Chair of the former Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), stands to profit most from the bombshell developments in Berlin.
This comes after Scholz fired his Finance Minister, Christian Linder, the leader of the liberal Free Democrats (FDP).
Hours after Lindner’s sacking, the FDP withdrew the rest of its ministers from the cabinet, spelling the end of the beleaguered and unpopular three-way coalition.
In a televised address to the nation, Scholz laid out a roadmap for the coming weeks, saying that he will seek a vote of confidence in January that would pave the way for early elections by March – six months ahead of schedule.
Scholz said that he had offered Lindner a plan to bring down energy costs, boost investment and maintain support for Ukraine. However, he stated that Lindner had shown “no willingness” to accept it.
Merz, who is in a strong position to become the country’s next leader, rejected that timetable out of hand, saying there was “absolutely no reason to wait to put off the confidence vote to January.” “The end last night is the end of the traffic light,” Merz said, referring to Scholz’s three-way coalition government, “and hence the end of this mandate.”
The opposition leader told reporters that his parliamentary group had agreed unanimously that Scholz should schedule the confidence vote by next week “at the latest”, after which the country’s President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, would have 21 days to dissolve the Bundestag lower house of parliament.
That would probably pave the way to a snap election in late January.
Merz said those three weeks could be used constructively to determine whether there was common ground between his CDU and the remaining government parties; Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens, to tackle pressing issues including the next federal budget.
He was to hold talks with Scholz and then Steinmeier later on today, Thursday, November 7, 2024.
A bitterly fought debate on Germany’s fiscal priorities triggered the ultimately fatal rift with the FDP and Scholz has expressed hope he can reach an agreement on the budget in the interim with the centre right.
Merz said, “I am of course ready to have talks … and assume responsibility,” but he implied the deal would be off if Scholz intended to drag his feet on a new political start for the country.
Meanwhile, the Christian Social Union, the CDU’s Bavarian sister party, took a harsher tone, with its parliamentary leader, Alexander Dobrindt, saying that Germany in its current condition, with weak economic growth and a crisis in manufacturing, “simply can’t afford to be in a Chancellor coma.”
He said that allowing a lame-duck government without a majority in parliament to limp along until spring would be “arrogant and disrespectful” to voters.
The far-right Alternative für Deutschland party, which stands to make gains from the political upheaval and is now polling at about 17%, just ahead of Scholz’s SPD, is also pushing for a fresh elections as soon as possible.
Baerbock Defends Scholz’s Schedule
However, German Foreign Minister, Annalena Baerbock of the Greens defended Scholz’s designated schedule as “paving the way for an orderly transition” including time for parties to make their cases to voters in an election campaign.
She said that this is because order is the most important thing in “these insecure times,” pointing to the outcome of the US presidential election and Germany’s “key responsibility” in Europe as the world’s third largest economy.
The political turmoil in Germany comes at a time of deep uncertainty in Europe, including over the future of Ukraine, and shaky leadership from Berlin and Paris.
France’s President, Emmanuel Macron, also called a snap election earlier this year and is under pressure from both the hard right and the far left.
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