Two other FDP ministers have announced their resignations following the collapse of Germany's governing coalition, which resulted in the sacking of the finance minister by Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Due to the loss of the majority in the government, the opposition wants to hold early elections. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has stated that he is ready to decide on the dissolution of the Bundestag. “The end of the coalition is not the end of the world,” he said.
The three-way coalition of the SPD, Greens and FDP, which will rule Germany from 2021, ousted Finance Minister Christian Lindner from the FDP on Wednesday when Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that he was due to disagree on economic and budgetary matters. politics This decision deprived the government of its majority in the Bundestag.
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Scholz announced that he wants the budget law to be passed in December. He added that in mid-January he will ask the parliament to give him a vote of confidence, which could speed up the parliamentary elections in March. – Along with the changes caused by the victory of Donald Trump in the elections in the USA and the state of the economy, more financial space is needed for maneuver. Anyone who does not see this and refuses to agree is acting irresponsibly, said the chancellor. “We need a government that is capable,” he stressed.
“New parliamentary elections are needed”
CDU opposition leader Friedrich Merz has appealed to Chancellor Olaf Scholz to order a confidence vote in the Bundestag by the end of next week. “Now we need new parliamentary elections,” he emphasized.
Government meeting in the Bundestag PAP/EPA/HANNIBAL HANSCHKE
On Thursday, after the meeting of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, the leader of the Christian Democratic Party said that the government coalition consisting of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP has failed. The Christian Democratic faction unanimously supported the demand to convene the Bundestag as soon as possible for a vote of confidence in the government, the Tageschau website reports.
The head of the Central Committee of the CPSU said the same tone on Wednesday, the Prime Minister of Bavaria Markus Soeder. On the X platform, he wrote that the elections should be held as soon as possible. He added that there can be no “tactical delays”. According to him, the vote of confidence should be held immediately, and possible early parliamentary elections should be held in January.
German President: time for common sense
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has said that he is ready to dissolve the Bundestag in order to hold parliamentary elections. “The country needs a moderate majority and a viable government,” he stressed.
– Now is not the time for tactics and fighting, (…) it is the time for common sense and responsibility – he said, referring to the victory of Donald Trump in the US presidential elections. He expressed hope that all the officials will be able to overcome the scale of the problem. Steinmeier emphasized that German democracy is strong and the Basic Law provides clear guidelines for further implementation.
– The end of the coalition is not the end of the world. This is a political crisis that we have to put behind us and we will put it behind us, he said.
FDP ministers decided to resign
After the collapse of the coalition, two other ministers of the Democratic Party decided to leave the government, which was announced by the representative of this party, Christian Duerr, on Wednesday evening. Marco Bushman (Minister of Justice) and Bettina Stark-Watzinger (Minister of Education) resigned from their positions.
Another decision was made by Transport Minister Volker Wissing, who wants to stay in office and leave the group. Wissing said that Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) asked her if she was willing to stay in her post. He announced his intention to remain in the government as a non-partisan.
The Minister of Transport emphasized that “he does not want to become a burden for his party”. Therefore, he informed the leader of the FDP, Christian Lindner, that he was leaving the group. – I will not distance myself from the main values of my party and I don't want to join another one, – he said. He emphasized that this is his personal decision and he wants to “stay true to himself”.
Main photo source: PAP/EPA/HANNIBAL HANSCHKE
