Live blog on the government crisis: ++ Lindner accuses Scholz of a “calculated break” ++

Christian Lindner accused Chancellor Scholz of a “calculated break” in the traffic lights. Scholz had previously sharply criticized Lindner: he had broken his trust too often. All developments on the government crisis in the live blog.

CSU leader Markus Söder has spoken out in favor of quick new elections. “The traffic light is history. There is no time to waste now,” wrote Söder on the short message service X. Germany now needs new elections and a new government quickly. “There should be no tactical delays.” Söder called on Chancellor Scholz to raise the vote of confidence in the Bundestag immediately – and not, as Scholz announced, only in mid-January. “This means that new elections could even take place in January.”

The CSU Presidium wants to discuss the new development at a short-term meeting on Thursday (10 a.m.).

Lower Saxony’s Prime Minister Stephan Weil considers the break of the traffic light coalition in the federal government to be logical. “It is part of the responsibility of a Federal Chancellor to soberly determine whether a coalition is helping the country or not. In these times, a coalition that only argues is more of a burden than a support,” said the Lower Saxony SPD state chairman.

“As difficult as the times are and as little as we actually need an election campaign at the moment, governments are not an end in themselves, they have to help the country and the people. This decision is consistent for me and I have the greatest respect and admiration for a Federal Chancellor who accepts his responsibility in this way,” Weil continued.

The vast majority of Germans are dissatisfied with the federal government. That shows one GermanyTrend extra. Accordingly, 85 percent of those surveyed said they were dissatisfied, only 14 percent were satisfied. In the Sunday question, the SPD got 16 percent, the Greens got 11 percent and the FDP got 4 percent. 34 percent would vote for the CDU, 17 percent for the AfD and 6 percent for the BSW.

23 percent of those surveyed expected that a Union-led federal government would do a better job. More than half (53 percent) assumed that it would be similarly good or similarly bad.

Union Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz wants to discuss the consequences of the vote of confidence announced by Chancellor Olaf Scholz for January with members of the Bundestag from the CDU and CSU. The Union faction should meet for a special meeting this Thursday at 8 a.m., the Union said in the evening. The parliamentary group and CDU chairman Merz and CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt then wanted to inform the public about the results.

“It’s a completely broken relationship on both sides, the trust is gone,” says Matthias Deiß from Berlin.

“It was a speech that was very, very hearty, where you felt great irritation and great anger,” says Markus Preiß from Berlin about the Chancellor’s speech.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz offers the CDU talks about cooperation. “I will now very quickly seek a conversation with opposition leader Friedrich Merz,” he says. He wants to work constructively with the opposition on two crucial issues – “in quickly strengthening our economy and our defense.” The economy cannot wait until new elections have taken place and clarity is needed about the solid financing of security and defense.

The AfD in the Bundestag has welcomed the break from the traffic light coalition as overdue and as a “liberation” for Germany. The alliance of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP has taken big steps to bring the country to the economic abyss, said parliamentary group leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla in the evening.

“After months of standstill and countless self-focused therapy sessions, we now quickly need a fundamental political new beginning in order to lead the economy and the entire country out of the serious crisis into which it has fallen due to the ideology-driven politics of the SPD, Greens and FDP. ” Chancellor Scholz must now do the country a final service and immediately ask for a vote of confidence.

Christian Lindner has accused Chancellor Scholz of a “calculated break” in the traffic light coalition. This is proven by his carefully prepared statement, the FDP leader told the press. Scholz’s counter-suggestions are “weak” and “unambitious”. The Chancellor has shown that he does not have the strength to give the country a new beginning. He ultimately demanded that the debt brake be suspended. But that would have violated his oath of office, said Lindner.

Vice Chancellor and Economics Minister Robert Habeck and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also jointly commented on the crisis in front of the press. “That is as logical as it is unnecessary at this point,” said Habeck. It feels wrong and not right.

After the election of Donald Trump as US President, Germany and Europe must show the ability to act. There were possible solutions on the table. According to him, the biggest solution would have been to give Ukraine more support. The FDP was not prepared to go this route. The Greens initially want to remain part of a minority government with the SPD. “We will now quickly clear the way for new elections,” says Habeck.

Baerbock said: “This is not a good day for Germany and not a good day for Europe either.”

After the dismissal of Finance Minister Christian Lindner, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has now officially announced that he will ask the Bundestag for a vote of confidence on January 15th. New elections could take place by the end of March at the latest. He agreed with Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck that Germany quickly needed clarity about its future political course.

During the weeks in which the Bundestag is in session until Christmas, he wants to put all laws to a vote that cannot be postponed. According to him, this includes stabilizing pensions and emergency measures for industry.

Chancellor Scholz sharply criticized Christian Lindner. He had broken his trust too often, Scholz told the press in Berlin. Lindner has rejected compromises too often; there is “no further basis of trust for further cooperation.” “Too often, Federal Minister Lindner has blocked laws that are irrelevant,” said the Chancellor. The FDP leader is more concerned with his own clientele and the survival of his own party. “Serious government work is not possible like this.” He doesn’t want to subject the country to this kind of behavior any longer.

Chancellor Scholz apparently wants to ask the vote of confidence in mid-January. That reports Markus Preiß, head of the ARD capital studio. Accordingly, there could be new elections in March.

The SPD has called its parliamentary group together for a meeting at 10:30 p.m. Before that, Chancellor Scholz wants to appear in front of the press.

According to media reports, the traffic light coalition failed. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is dismissing Finance Minister and FDP leader Christian Lindner, as reported by the Reuters news agency and the Bild newspaper.

At the meeting of the coalition committee, Finance Minister Christian Lindner is said to have suggested new elections to Chancellor Olaf Scholz. This is reported by the Bild newspaper, citing unnamed groups of participants. Lindner wants new elections at the beginning of 2025 and has agreed to support a caretaker federal government. According to the newspaper, Scholz is said to have rejected this.

Lindner is quoted as saying that the past few days have shown that there is not enough common ground between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP for a real economic turnaround. After Donald Trump’s election victory in the USA, an economic turnaround became even more urgent. The aim must be to enable a new government for Germany in an “orderly and dignified manner”. As Bild further writes, in this case Lindner is ready to approve the supplementary budget for 2024 and to support a caretaker federal government until a new federal government is in office.

Before the coalition committee, Chancellor Olaf Scholz met again with Economics Minister Robert Habeck and Finance Minister Christian Lindner. There have already been four such crisis meetings since Monday. It’s about how the billion dollar hole in the 2025 budget can be plugged and the ailing German economy can be brought back on track.