Scholz dismisses the strongman of the liberals in the coalition and leaves the German Government on the brink of collapse

The German chancellor, the social democrat Olaf Scholzdismissed this Wednesday his Finance Minister, the liberal leader Christian Lindnerafter he proposed calling early elections due to the serious crisis that the coalition of social democrats, greens and liberals is going through, which is facing a possible breakup. According to ReutersScholz will face a motion of confidence which could lead to early elections.

The news was announced by the chancellor’s spokesman, Steffen Hebestreit, who was quoted by the weekly Die Zeitwhile other media such as the NTV television network and the newspaper Bild They also announced Lindner’s dismissal. In the evening, the chancellor confirmed the news in a brief statement.

The leadership of the three parties that form the tripartite met this afternoon in Berlin, in a meeting also attended by Scholz, Lindner, and the Vice Chancellor and Minister of Economy, the Green Robert Habeck, who have held several three-way meetings since Monday to try to bring positions closer together.

The objective was to try to save the coalition, mired in a deep crisis less than a year before the legislative elections scheduled for autumn 2025 and at a time when the popularity of the three formations has fallen to a minimum, according to surveys.

The breakup was precipitated by fundamental divergences over plans for relaunch the economy Germany, in its second year of recession, and on the budgets for next year, which are still in the parliamentary process.

Al conocerse la noticia, varios expertos vaticinaron que la salida de los liberales del Gobierno podría provocar que los socialdemócratas de Scholz y los verdes intenten gobernar en minoría. También barajaron la opción de que Scholz intente formar una coalición con la oposición conservadora de la Unión Cristianodemócrata (CDU) que, hasta el momento, no se ha mostrado abierta a esta posibilidad.

Finalmente, se conoció que el canciller se someterá a una cuestión de confianza que podría llevar a la convocatoria de elecciones anticipadas. En ese caso, los comicios que podrían celebrarse en marzo.