Germany may have snap elections next year as Scholz’s coalition falls – National
Germany’s ruling coalition collapsed on Wednesday when Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired his finance minister to pave the way for a snap election, fueling political turmoil in Europe’s biggest economy hours after Donald Trump won the US presidential election.
After firing Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the Free Democrats (FDP), Scholz is expected to lead a minority government with his Social Democrats and the Greens, the second largest party.
He will have to rely on large parts of the united parliament to pass the law and plans to hold a parliamentary vote of confidence in his government on Jan. 15.
The collapse of Scholz’s three-way coalition ends months of wrangling over budget policy and Germany’s economic direction, with the government’s popularity waning and far-right and far-left forces strong.
“We need a government that is able to work, that has the power to make the necessary decisions for our country,” Scholz told reporters.
Scholz said he fired Lindner for his disruptive behavior in budget disputes, accusing the minister of putting party before country and obstructing legislation on false pretenses.
The move comes after the election of Republican Donald Trump as US president, when Europe is trying to form a unified response to issues ranging from new US money to Russia’s war in Ukraine and the future of the NATO alliance.
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The government crisis is coming to a head in Germany, with a failing economy, aging infrastructure and an unprepared military.
The political upheaval could fuel growing frustration with Germany’s main parties to the benefit of youth-oriented parties, including the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD).
With France also facing political uncertainty after snap elections this year, turmoil in the European Union’s two largest economies could derail efforts to deepen the bloc’s integration as it faces challenges from the east and west.
The need for the suspension of debt brakes
The bloc has been at odds over how best to bail out Europe’s biggest economy, which is facing a second year of recession and an economic crisis after it ran out of cheap gas from Russia following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine and amid growing competition from China. .
Scholz said he proposed capping energy costs for companies to strengthen Germany’s bid as a place to do business. He wanted a package that would help save jobs in the ailing auto industry, as well as more support for Ukraine.
The FDP has proposed cuts in public spending, lower taxes and less regulation as an answer to the weakness. It also wants to slow Germany’s transition to a neutral economy.
Speaking behind Scholz, Lindner said the chancellor tried to pressure him to break the constitutional spending limit known as the credit brake, a move Lindner, a fiscal hawk, refused to support.
“Olaf Scholz refuses to recognize that our country needs a new economic model,” he told reporters. “Olaf Scholz has shown that he does not have the power to give his country a new impetus.”
The SPD and the Greens, while at odds on some issues, agree that targeted government spending is needed.
Scholz said Lindner is focused on his team’s survival for a while. “Especially today, one day after such an important event as the US election, this kind of selfishness is completely incomprehensible.”
Economy minister Robert Habeck of the Greens said the coalition disagreed on how to close the financial gap in next year’s budget.
“I want to say on our behalf that tonight I feel wrong and I don’t feel good. It is almost a tragedy on a day like today, when Germany needs to show solidarity and the ability to act in Europe.”
(Reporting by Sarah Marsh, Andreas Rinke, Christian Kraemer and Riham Alkousaa, Thomas Escritt; Writing by Sarah Marsh, Thomas Escritt, Matthias Williams; Editing by Mark Heinrich, Matthias Williams, Gareth Jones and Rod Nickel)
