BERLIN (AP) — After German Chancellor Olaf Scholz dramatically fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the pro-business Free Democrats in a late-night move after a marathon of crisis meetings, the three remaining ministers of the Free Democrats also resigned later at night effectively leading to the government coalition’s collapse.
However, in another unexpected turn of events, Transport Minister Volker Wissing from the Free Democrats took back last night’s resignation and told reporters on Thursday morning in Berlin that after talking to Scholz, he had decided to stay on as minister and leave the party instead.
Lindner will receive his certificate of dismissal from President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Thursday afternoon and, to ensure a smooth transition, a successor will likely be named right after. The posts of the research and justice ministers who resigned may also be filled Thursday, German news agency dpa reported.
Scholz announced late Wednesday that he would seek a vote of confidence on Jan. 15 that he said might lead to an early election as soon as March — which otherwise would have been be due next September.
Scholz had accused Lindner of breaching his trust and publicly calling for a fundamentally different economic policy, including what the chancellor said would be tax cuts worth billions for a few top earners while at the same time cutting pensions for all retirees.
“That is not decent,” Scholz said.
Scholz’s left-leaning Social Democrats will now effectively lead a minority government with the remaining coalition partner, the environmentalist Greens.
The chancellor announced late Wednesday that he would reach out to the leader of the biggest opposition leader in parliament, Friedrich Merz from the center-right Christian Democrats, to confer on possible ways of strengthening the economy and defense, and passing important legislation through parliament.
But Merz on Thursday morning vehemently rejected Scholz’s plan to wait to hold a vote of confidence until January.
“The coalition no longer has a majority in the German Bundestag, and we therefore call on the chancellor (…) to call a vote of confidence immediately, or at the latest by the beginning of next week.”
Merz said that an early election could then be held as soon as January.
“We simply cannot afford to have a government without a majority in Germany for several months now, and then campaign for several more months, and then possibly conduct coalition negotiations for several weeks,” Merz added.
Indeed, pushing through new legislation and plugging the billion-euro hole in the 2025 budget won’t become easier for Scholz’s Social Democrats and the Greens as their government no longer has a majority in parliament.