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German opposition wants confidence vote now

Published November 7, 2024last updated November 8, 2024

Opposition parties have made calls for an immediate vote of confidence after Chancellor Scholz sacked Finance Minister Christian Lindner. Losing the vote would pave the way for snap elections. DW has more.

https://p.dw.com/p/4mjMC
Friedrich Merz heads into the Bellevue Palace for talks with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier
German conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz, who is angling to become the country's next chancellor, met with President Steinmeier after the collapse of the ruling coalition governmentImage: Kay Nietfeld/dpa/picture alliance
Skip next section What you need to know

What you need to know

Germany's three-party governing coalition has collapsed amid mutual recriminations after Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the Social Democrats (SPD) fired his fiscally conservative Finance Minister Christian Lindner, the leader of the neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP).

The three parties have been at odds nearly since agreeing to form the so-called traffic light coalition, but it was a debate over how to plug a large hole in next year's budget that proved its ultimate undoing.

Lindner alleges that Scholz was trying to force him to ignore constitutionally enshrined debt limit rules.  But the Social Democrats and the Greens, led in the government by Economy Minister Robert Habeck and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, accuse the FDP of showing insufficient flexibility during what they say should have been declared as a fiscal emergency, freeing up extra funds.

Opposition parties have seized on the moment to demand Scholz call a vote of confidence — and to do it much sooner than the chancellor would like.

Keep reading for the latest developments in the German government crisis from Thursday, November 7:

Skip next section Seeking quicker elections, CDU's Merz meets German president
November 8, 2024

Seeking quicker elections, CDU's Merz meets German president

After his unsuccessful meeting with Olaf Scholz, Friedrich Merz also met German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at Berlin's Bellevue Palace. 

The meeting lasted about an hour. 

Merz's conversation with the head of state is believed to have been about the roadmap to a quick new election.

However, details about the content or results of the conversation were not initially known. 

In a separate event, Steinmeier handed out certificates of discharge to three outgoing Free Democrat Party (FDP) ministers. 

They were Finance Minister Christian Lindner, the former Justice Minister Marco Buschmann and the former Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger. 

Transport Minister Volker Wissing remains in office as the only cabinet member appointed by the FDP, although he has left the party. His brief has now widened as Scholz also appointed him justice minister.

https://p.dw.com/p/4mmMd
Skip next section Lame duck chancellor?
November 7, 2024

Lame duck chancellor?

DW's political correspondent Matthew Moore is traveling with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Budapest, Hungary amid the government crisis: 

As he left Berlin for an informal meeting of European leaders on Thursday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz cut a relieved figure but a big question mark remains over how much authority he now has.

The Social Democrat (SPD) leader kicked the neoliberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) out of his coalition  removing his ability to pass legislation.

Scholz wants to set the ball rolling for an election to take place around late March.

In the name of stability, however, the leader of the opposition CDU Friedrich Merz is demanding snap elections as soon as possible driven in no small part by their high polling numbers.

Merz is said to have told Scholz in a one-to-one meeting that a lame duck chancellor wouldn’t even get a meeting with US President-elect Donald Trump.

It appears not to have swayed Scholz. He’s counting on a longer campaign to help rejuvenate his party’s standing among the German public.

https://p.dw.com/p/4mmKD
Skip next section Chancellor Scholz to make announcement on Wednesday
November 7, 2024

Chancellor Scholz to make announcement on Wednesday

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will make a statement in the Bundestag on Wednesday next week, German news agency DPA reports. 

This comes after Germany’s three-party coalition collapsed after the sacking of Finance Minister and Free Democrats (FDP) head Christian Lindner

Scholz appoints new finance minister

Scholz has announced a plan to hold a vote of confidence in January, which would allow for new elections to be held.

The opposition, meanwhile, is pushing for an immediate vote of confidence

https://p.dw.com/p/4mmIY
Skip next section Survey: Germans want immediate elections
November 7, 2024

Survey: Germans want immediate elections

German voters favor immediate elections, a survey revealed.

Some 65% of those surveyed support an immediate call for elections to Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag. 33% said they agree with Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s intention to hold them in March.

The survey, put out by German public broadcaster ARD, shows Germany’s biggest opposition party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), would receive 34% of the votes.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party would become Germany’s second-biggest party with 18%.

Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD), meanwhile, would get 16% of the vote. 

The other two parties which made Germany’s now-collapsed coalition, the Green party and the business-focused Free Democrats (FDP),are both expected to lose parliament seats.

The Greens would receive 12% in comparison, dropping from 15% in the current Bundestag.

The FDP, meanwhile, would fall from their current 11% share to 5% support, putting the party at the minimum threshold to enter the Bundestag.   

https://p.dw.com/p/4mmHa
Skip next section German coalition collapse due to absence of Russian gas, Moscow says
November 7, 2024

German coalition collapse due to absence of Russian gas, Moscow says

Russia has said that the collapse of Germany’s coalition government is due to the country no longer being supplied with Russian gas.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed in a statement on the Telegram messaging platform that the German economy was no longer growing as strongly as a consequence of ending reliance on Russian gas.

"Berlin has failed to retain Russian gas, which is vital for its citizens and its industrial and economic complex," she said. 

Zakharova also commented on the timing of the German government's collapse, and the fact that it coincided with the re-election of US President Donald Trump.

Russia had long been Germany’s most important energy supplier, but sanctions over Russia's war in Ukraine since 2022 led to a sharp reduction in gas deliveries to Germany, where energy prices consequently spiked.

https://p.dw.com/p/4mm7A
Skip next section WATCH: ASK DW about Germany's coalition crisis
November 7, 2024

WATCH: ASK DW about Germany's coalition crisis

https://p.dw.com/p/4mlKA
Skip next section Scholz under pressure amid calls to fast track confidence vote
November 7, 2024

Scholz under pressure amid calls to fast track confidence vote

The Opposition is neatly putting the chancellor under pressure. 

There is no plausible reason why Olaf Scholz couldn't hold a confidence vote in the coming days, so that Germany could go to the polls in January. 

If he were to do that, he could clearly count on the support of the CSU and CDU for some of his legislative projects. Even the Greens, the SPD's remaining coalition partners, are beginning to ask themselves why they should stay as a "lame duck" administration for so long. 

If the chancellor doesn't come up with a persuasive explanation, it could damage his party, as well as the Greens. So there could still be movement on this in the next week or two.

https://p.dw.com/p/4mm4f
Skip next section In video: European leaders' reactions to the news from Germany
November 7, 2024

In video: European leaders' reactions to the news from Germany

Several top European politicians spoke to reporters as they arrived in Budapest for the European Political Community summit on Thursday, while Chancellor Scholz had to push his arrival time back to Thursday evening, provisionally. 

Some have featured in these updates in writing already, but you can watch a selection of key quotes here.

European leaders react as German gov't coalition collapses

https://p.dw.com/p/4mlPE
Skip next section Scholz cancels travel plans for COP29 climate summit in Baku
November 7, 2024

Scholz cancels travel plans for COP29 climate summit in Baku

A German government spokesperson said Chancellor Olaf Scholz will not be traveling to Azerbaijan for the UN's climate conference next week as originally planned.

Scholz had been scheduled to fly to Azerbaijan late Monday, ready to participate in discussions on Tuesday. 

The 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference, better known as COP29, runs from November 11-22.

https://p.dw.com/p/4mlH7
Skip next section Germany's debt brake: The rift that broke the government
November 7, 2024

Germany's debt brake: The rift that broke the government

Germany's government collapsed because of a dispute over the country's so-called debt brake that Lindner reportedly refused to soften to plug a €10 billion budget gap. 

In Germany, the federal government and the 16 states are obliged to balance their books and are practically prohibited from taking out extra loans. This requirement is known colloquially as the "debt brake."

Why does Germany have this rule? Read DW's explainer.

https://p.dw.com/p/4mlG0
Skip next section Scholz and Merz hold private talks
November 7, 2024

Scholz and Merz hold private talks

Chancellor Scholz and conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz, who earlier called for a confidence motion "next week at the very latest," held closed-door talks at the Chancellery in Berlin.

Scholz has said a snap poll could take place as soon as January.

However, Christian Democrat Merz met Scholz briefly on Thursday afternoon to push for a much shorter timetable.

Merz was said to have offered that his conservatives could discuss upcoming legislation and how they might support the minority government — but only if the vote of confidence was moved forward to take place next week. Scholz, however, wants to stick to the timetable for the vote of confidence next year.

The German news agency DPA said Merz had left the meeting at the Chancellery in Berlin empty-handed. 

Merz, who hopes to replace Scholz as chancellor, then headed to Bellevue Palace to meet German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to discuss how to proceed.

https://p.dw.com/p/4mlAo
Skip next section Social media reacts to German government crisis
November 7, 2024

Social media reacts to German government crisis

On social media site X, formerly Twitter, Germans were having a field day with the headlines from Thursday.

Satirical news site Postillion mocked Scholz's perceived lack of verve and charisma by joking that "after a hard reckoning with Lindner, Scholz's pulse skyrockets" to 23 beats per minute.

One popular comedic account joked that while everyone else was fighting, popular Bavarian premier Markus Söder — who regularly posts photos and videos of himself on social media, sometimes in costumes — was too busy looking at his own photo to notice.

Others brought back old pictures and videos of Angela Merkel, including one where she says: "Maybe God only created the FDP to test us."

https://p.dw.com/p/4ml33
Skip next section AfD's Weidel calls for immediate vote of confidence
November 7, 2024

AfD's Weidel calls for immediate vote of confidence

A co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), Alice Weidel said at a press conference in Berlin on Thursday that the "traffic light" or Ampel coalition — with this German nickname based on the three parties' red, yellow and green colors — "came to an end just as unworthily as it governed." 

"That it will end early is the only good thing one can say about three years of an Ampel government," Weidel said. She called its early demise a "liberation," using a German football term for when a defender clears the ball far away in what could otherwise have been a dangerous situation.

She also called Scholz's handling of the split with Lindner "unworthy," saying, "That's not the way you deal with former coalition partners, pushing blame onto each other." 

No German mainstream parties are currently willing to ally with the AfD in a coalition at the federal level, saying their positions are irreconcilable. But Weidel called for those to the right of center to reconsider. 

"It's the responsibility of the [CDU/CSU] and FDP to come to terms with the second-strongest opposition party according to the polls, the AfD, to enable a forward-looking government capable of action, without the SPD and the Greens," she said. "The AfD stands ready." 

She also called for a much quicker roadmap towards snap elections than the one proposed by Scholz. 

"To put a confidence motion to parliament only on January 15 is irresponsible. You can't carry on with a rump government formed out of a govermment that nobody wanted anymore. Chancellor Scholz lost the confidence of the German population long ago. And he must immediately clear the path for new elections and a confidence motion," she said. 

As a result, Weidel said her party would appeal for a confidence vote to take place in the Bundestag next week.

https://p.dw.com/p/4mkU7
Skip next section Lindner says he plans to lead FDP into next vote
November 7, 2024

Lindner says he plans to lead FDP into next vote

Lindner at a podium with the FDP's logo in the background
Lindner wants to lead the FDP's election efforts as he did in 2021Image: Hannes P Albert/dpa/picture alliance

Free Democrat leader Christian Lindner, whose dismissal as finance minister sparked the coalition's collapse, has said he plans to lead the party in the next German elections. 

Lindner said this was his wish, at least in the event that he still had the party's support, to do so. 

The campaign could be a difficult one for the fiscally conservative party that takes a liberal stance on more personal issues, with it currently polling below the 5% threshold it would need to guarantee representation in the Bundestag parliament.

Lindner also repeated his criticism of how Scholz handled his dismissal on Wednesday. 

"Part of the responsibilities of statecraft are a public style that ensures that democracy is not damaged," Lindner said. 

He said he had recommended to Scholz that he organize snap elections in an orderly manner if the budget impasse in the coalition could not be resolved. 

"Instead, yesterday [there was] this staged sacking," Lindner said of his ejection. "The right thing would have been to put a confidence question [to parliament] and [then call] new elections."

https://p.dw.com/p/4mkTy
Skip next section Chaos and paralysis in Berlin
November 7, 2024

Chaos and paralysis in Berlin

The atmosphere in Berlin's government district has rarely been as chaotic as it is at the moment.

The chancellor had actually been looking to regain control over the chaos that has been going on for weeks by firing the finance minister. But a day later, his plan seems to have collapsed again.

The opposition, CDU/CSU, is not going to tolerate the minority government as long as Chancellor Scholz does not call a vote of confidence, which he said he intends to do in January. This could paralyze Germany's ability to act for weeks. In these uncertain times, Berlin cannot afford this.

Opposition leader Merz and Chancellor Scholz are set to hold talks later today. We'll see what happens after that.

https://p.dw.com/p/4mkQ7
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