German Chancellor Olaf Scholz fires Finance Minister Christian Lindner

Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Wednesday that he had fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner, ending Germany’s coalition government after months of political wrangling and raising the possibility of snap elections in March. .

The three-year-old coalition between Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Green Party and Lindner’s Free Democratic Party (FDP) has been in a precarious position for some time, with differing positions on budget and economic policy causing tensions and conflicts.

Scholz launched a blistering attack on Lindner at a news conference late Wednesday, saying he had no concerns about serving the public interest and was removed to prevent harm to the country. Scholz has said he will call a vote of no confidence in parliament on January 15, raising the possibility that an election will be held earlier than scheduled for March.

“Anyone who joins the government must act responsibly and ensure that they act responsibly. They cannot run away when things get difficult,” Scholz said at a news conference, according to a Reuters translation. . “They need to be willing to compromise for the benefit of all their citizens… But that’s not exactly what Christian Lindner is focused on right now, he’s focused on his own customers. There is.”

The FDP and the Greens confirmed late Wednesday that Lindner’s resignation would mark the end of Berlin’s fractious coalition government, but said he would remain chancellor.

The situation was as follows Things have come to a head in recent weeks, with speculation mounting over a possible collapse earlier this week. This came after a series of moves by the three parties, including a paper by the FDP’s Mr Lindner outlining his vision for reviving the German economy, which was decisively opposed to the basic position of the SPD and the Greens. It was something to do.

The two parties were also struggling to agree on the 2025 budget, which still had billions of euros in funding gaps and was being negotiated. The budget deadline was set for the end of this month.

Lindner said at his press conference Wednesday that his party had made proposals for economic transformation that Scholz rejected. He argued that Scholz’s counterproposal was not ambitious.

“The Liberal Democrats are still ready to take responsibility for this country, and we will fight for responsibility in another government next year,” Lindner told reporters, according to a CNBC translation.

Lindner said Scholz’s request for a suspension of Germany’s debt brake was not met. Germany’s debt brake, enacted in 2009, limits the amount of debt the government can take on and stipulates the maximum size of the federal government’s structural budget deficit. According to the rules, it cannot exceed 0.35% of Germany’s annual GDP.