Ticker on the German government crisis Traffic light coalition collapses +++ Chancellor Scholz dismisses Finance Minister Lindner
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz has dismissed Finance Minister Christian Lindner. This means that the German traffic light coalition is at an end. What happens next is currently completely open.
The most important facts in brief
- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has pre-empted Finance Minister Christian Lindner by dismissing him.
- Apparently, Lindner wanted to terminate the traffic light coalition with the SPD and the Greens tomorrow, Thursday.
- Lindner had previously demanded a radically different economic and financial policy from the coalition partners in a new policy paper, whereupon the Chancellor had invited both Finance Minister Lindner and Economics Minister Robert Habeck to crisis talks in the Chancellery.
- At one of these talks, Lindner is said to have proposed early elections in January and a caretaker government, which Scholz rejected.
You can find the background to the end of the traffic light coalition in Germany here.
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Liveticker
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Liveticker closed
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Dismissal was logical
Lindner had shown no willingness to work together on a solution. The Finance Minister had not responded to any compromise proposals. That is irresponsible, says the Federal Chancellor.
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9.23 p.m.
Scholz wants to avoid chaos
Olaf Scholz does not want to plunge the country into chaos. He has therefore decided to dismiss the Finance Minister. This clears the way for an orderly continuation of work.
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9.07 p.m.
Olaf Scholz appears before the media
Traffic light coalition at an end: In a few moments, Chancellor Olaf Scholz will appear before the media - blue News tickers live.
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9.07 pm
First details on the end of the traffic light coalition
Before his dismissal, Christian Lindner had suggested that the traffic light parties should jointly seek new elections for the beginning of 2025 as quickly as possible in order to enable a new government for Germany "in an orderly and dignified manner". In this case, the FDP would have been prepared to jointly adopt the highly controversial supplementary budget for 2024 and be part of a caretaker government.
The leaders of the SPD, Greens and FDP had previously spent two and a half hours discussing ways out of the traffic light crisis. The main issue was how to plug the billion-euro hole in the 2025 budget and get the badly battered German economy back on track.
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8.44 pm
The German traffic light coalition is no more
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz has dismissed FDP leader and Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner. This means that the governing coalition has collapsed.
As first reported by"Bild", Scholz thus beat the FDP to the punch. Apparently, Christian Lindner had planned to terminate the coalition agreement with the SPD and the Greens by tomorrow at the latest. Their ministers were to leave the government.