On Wednesday evening, he said Chancellor Schulz He was dismissed Minister of Finance Christian Lindner because he “betrayed my trust repeatedly… Serious government work is not possible under such circumstances.”
Linder is the leader of the Liberal Party, a partner in the government coalition.
Only hours passed until the rest of the liberal ministers announced their withdrawal from the government, which thus lost its majority in the House of Representatives.
And this came Political earthquake At the worst possible time for Germany, as the largest economic power in Europe is currently suffering from a serious industrial crisis and is concerned about the victory of Republican Donald Trump. Trump The presidential elections in the United States and the repercussions of this victory on its trade and security.
In justifying his decision to dismiss the Minister of Finance, he said: Schulz “We need a government that can work and has the power to make the necessary decisions for our country.”
Schulz holds the chancellorship through a coalition of three parties: the Social Democratic Party led by him, the Free Democrats led by Lindner, and the Green Party.
The advisor indicated that he intends to put a vote of confidence in his government before Parliament early next year, and that the vote may take place on January 15, “and then members of Parliament can decide whether they want to pave the way for early elections,” which may be held at the end of March.
Lindner’s dismissal came during a crucial meeting at the Chancellery headquarters that included key figures from the three parties that make up the government coalition, according to the spokesman.
The dismissal came at a time when the dispute was intensifying over ways to revive the faltering German economy and the strict spending budget that had been imposed for weeks between the Social Democrats led by Schulz and his partners.
Lindner proposed adopting comprehensive economic reforms that the other two parties opposed, and explicitly put forward the idea of leaving the coalition.
The crisis may lead to early elections, perhaps in March, or leave Schulz and the Greens trying to remain in a minority government until the elections scheduled for next September.
Before Wednesday’s talks, Lindner warned that “doing nothing is not an option.”
In the midst of the chaos, Schulz urged his two coalition partners to take a pragmatic approach to reaching an agreement. “We may have different political and social views, but we live in one country. There is more that unites us than divides us,” he said.
For his part, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck of the Green Party warned that the US presidential elections, economic problems in Germany and the war in Ukraine and the Middle East make now “the worst time for the government to fail.”
And after an announcement Trump winsHabeck urged rival parties in Berlin to show common sense and said that “the government should be fully able to act now.”
Social Democratic Party leader Lars Klingbeil also believed that the result of the US elections “will change the world” and called for finding a settlement “because we cannot afford weeks of negotiations within the government.”
Schulz and his coalition partners were subjected to harsh criticism from Meretz, the leader of the Christian Democratic Union, who demanded early elections in which opinion polls indicate that he will be the most likely candidate.
