Germany’s three-party coalition dramatically collapsed last night as Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired his finance minister and called for a vote of no confidence in his government, opening the door for Germany’s right-wing parties.
Tensions had been simmering for weeks between Scholz and finance minister Christian Lindner and boiled over last night when the Chancellor announced Lindner had “broken his trust” and put “short-term survival of his party over the wellbeing of Germany.”
The move means Scholz no longer has a majority in the German government. The no confidence vote- planned for early 2025- could trigger elections in May, five months earlier than scheduled.
Latest polling in Germany reveals the country may be in for a shakeup, swinging to the right after three years of a centre left coalition and two years of economic stagnation.
The Christian Democrats, a centre right party, are comfortably leading latest opinion polls with 32 per cent of the vote, easily enough to make them the dominant party if an election were held imminently.
Led by Friedrich Merz- current Leader of the Opposition- the Christian Democrats have adopted more anti-immigration policies in recent years while championing military support for Ukraine.
Anti-immigration, right wing Alternative for Germany party would be the other big winners according to the polls.
Their projected haul of 17.2 per cent of the vote would make them the second biggest party, bigger than the Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals who have seen their support ebb away during their leadership.
AFD supporters in DresdenREUTERSThe liberal Free Democratic Party, who won 10 per cent of the vote in 2021 and a place in Scholz’s coalition, are polling particularly poorly at 3.7 per cent.
Under Germany’s proportional representational voting system, parties must gain five per cent of the vote to be eligible for representation.
Two years without economic growth and a cost of energy crisis in the wake of the Ukraine invasion has left Germans unhappy with their rulers, with many commentators asking if the country is ‘the sick man of Europe’.
This comes on the same day NATO-challenging Donald Trump was elected as America’s next President, a deeply worrying development for a country so reliant on US military might for its defence.
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There are also concerns Trump’s love of tariffs could be highly damaging to Germany’s economy as a costly trade war plays out over the next four years.
Analysis from the German Economic Institute (IW) estimates a new trade war could cost Germany €180 billion over Trump’s term in the White House.
Lindner’s sacking means Europe’s biggest economy is now lead by a minority coalition government of Scholz’s Social Democrat Party and the Greens.
They will have to rely on cobbling together support to pass laws and legislation, notably a budget intended to increase borrowing and spending to try and inject life into the sluggish German economy.
The vote of confidence will be held in Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, on 15 January, Scholz announced.
