BERLIN, 7 November - German Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Robert Habeck (Greens) announced that the country's ruling three-party coalition has broken up. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) has called for a vote of confidence in the government in mid-January and early elections could be held by the end of March. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) faction in the Bundestag announced on Wednesday that it had withdrawn all ministers from the government, effectively ending the "traffic light" coalition.
Key facts about the situation:
Finance chief resigns
- Scholz said he had asked the country's president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, to dismiss FDP Finance Minister Christian Lindner.
- The chancellor argued that the German finance chief "does not show readiness" to put his proposals for an economic turnaround into practice.
- Lindner accused Scholz of deliberately undermining the coalition and accused the SPD and Greens of rejecting his proposals to improve the economic situation in Germany as a basis for consultations. He insisted that Scholz was pushing the country into uncertainty.
Vote of confidence
- The German chancellor has said he will call a vote of confidence in the Bundestag on 15 January 2025, which could trigger early elections by the end of March.
- In the meantime, Vice-Chancellor Habeck declared that the coalition would remain functional in order to fully perform its duties.
FDP withdrawal
- Christian Durr, chairman of the FDP parliamentary faction, argued that the proposals put forward by the chancellor were not nearly enough to help stabilise the German economy.
- Durr stressed that his faction would continue its constructive political course in the remaining period.
- In addition to the Finance Minister, the FDP was represented in the government by Justice Minister Marco Buschmann, Research and Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger and Transport Minister Volker Wissing.
He announced today that he will remain in government, but as a non-partisan. President Steinmeier dismissed the remaining FDP ministers today. Lindner was dismissed at the request of the Chancellor, while Buschmann and Stark-Watzinger asked for it themselves. Lindner was replaced in his post by Scholz's close associate Jörg Kukies, while Wissing took over the Justice Ministry. Education and research is to be handled by the new Green Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir.
Reasons for the split
- The government was divided on budgetary, financial and economic policy. Der Spiegel, citing its sources, reported that the coalition partners called a meeting on Wednesday evening to try to resolve their differences.
- On 1 November, Lindner presented a plan to pull the German economy out of the crisis. According to Reuters, many members of the government considered Lindner's proposals to be at odds with a multi-billion dollar investment plan backed by Green Party Economy Minister Habeck. While Habeck proposed setting up an investment promotion fund and bypassing Germany's strict budget spending rules, Lindner pushed for lower taxes to boost the economy and an immediate end to the latest solidarity surcharge.
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