Several German opposition politicians have called on Chancellor Olaf Scholz to hold an immediate vote of confidence rather than in the middle of January as he has currently proposed.
Chairman of the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) Markus Söder has been among those calling for immediate action.
“The traffic light [coalition] is history. No more time can be lost now. Germany needs new elections and a new government quickly,” Söder said in a post on the X social media platform, referring to the coalition of the SPD, red, the Greens and the neoliberal Free Democrats, represented by yellow.
The deputy parliamentary chairman of the conservative opposition Christian Democrats also spoke out against the January 15 timing of the confidence vote.
“Olaf Scholz should now raise the question of confidence without delay so that we can quickly establish a new and fully functional government,” Mathias Middelberg told the German news agency DPA.
The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) called the collapse of the coalition a “liberation” with parliamentary leaders Alive Weidel and Tino Chrupalla calling for a quick and fundamental new political start.
Scholz on Wednesday fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the FDP, triggering the end of the three-party coalition.
Scholz announced a vote of confidence for January 15, 2025, explaining snap elections could then be held by the end of March at the latest.
The crisis comes after Lindner wrote a paper with proposals for “an economic turnaround with a partly fundamental revision of key political decisions” — by slashing taxes for companies, rolling back climate regulations, and reducing welfare benefits.
The proposals were seen as a provocation and as unreconcilable with the proposals of his coalition partners, Chancellor Scholz’s center-left Social Democrats (SPD) and environmentalist Greens.
kb/sms (dpa, AP, AFP, Reuters)