In Germany, Olaf Scholz dismisses his finance minister and marks the end of his coalition

Donald Trump's victory was expected to close the ranks of the coalition in power in Berlin since 2021; it finally precipitated its explosion. On the evening of Wednesday, November 6, the Social Democratic Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, requested the departure of his finance minister, the president of the Liberal Democratic Party (FDP), Christian Lindner, with whom relations had become notoriously stormy.

The decision marks the end of the so-called “traffic light” majority, made up of the social democrats of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP, since it places, de facto, the chancellor and his government in a minority in the Bundestag. In all probability, early legislative elections will take place at the beginning of 2025, at the latest by the end of March, Olaf Scholz having announced that he would submit to a vote of confidence of the deputies on January 15. The next legislative elections were initially scheduled to take place on September 28, 2025.

“I am forced to make this decision in order to avoid any damage to our country, Olaf Scholz told the press on Wednesday evening. We need a government capable of acting, which has the strength to make the necessary decisions. » He indicated that he wanted to get closer to the leader of the opposition, the president of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Friedrich Merz, himself already a declared candidate for the chancellery, in order to “cooperate” on economic policy and defense. “Our economy cannot wait until new elections have taken place. We need clarity on how we will finance our security and defense in the years to come,” explained Olaf Scholz.

An alliance of opposites

The three other liberal ministers of the government (justice, transport and education) announced their withdrawal in the evening, while Christian Lindner accused, for his part, the chancellor of having deliberately orchestrated the rupture, by imposing unacceptable conditions on him, such as the suspension of the “debt brake”, a constitutional provision which limits the structural deficit of the federal State to 0.35% of gross domestic product each year.

Despite the coincidence of the calendar, the American elections are only marginally responsible for the political chaos which is shaking the largest economy in the euro zone. In recent months, disputes within the government have become almost daily, pitting the Greens and the SPD, attached to the social state, against the FDP, defender of budgetary rigor. This alliance of opposites worked more or less in a dynamic economy, managing to agree around societal subjects or themes such as the modernization of the State. But its ideological contradictions became more difficult to overcome when the recession placed the question of public finances at the heart of the debate.

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