BERLIN (AP) — After Germany’s government coalition collapsed in a dramatic fashion when Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the pro-business Free Democrats, Scholz said he would lead the country with a minority government, despite calls from opposition leaders on Thursday for early elections.
The chancellor said the minority government would be made up of his Social Democrats and the Greens until early next year — even as the leader of the biggest opposition bloc in parliament, Friedrich Merz from the center-right Christian Democrats, called for an immediate no-confidence vote and new elections.
Scholz stressed again on Thursday, that he does not want to call a vote of confidence before Jan. 15.
“The citizens will soon have the opportunity to decide anew how to proceed,” the chancellor said, according to the German news agency dpa. “That is their right. I will therefore put the vote of confidence to the Bundestag at the beginning of next year.”
A meeting with Merz and Scholz at the chancellery around noontime Thursday about a possible date for the next election ended after less than an hour with Merz leaving without commenting on the talks.
Later on Thursday, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier gave fired Finance Minister Lindner and two other Free Democrats officials who had resigned — Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger and Justice Minister Marco Buschmann — their certificates of dismissal.
Transport Minister Volker Wissing, who is also with the Free Democrats, said that after talks with Scholz, he had decided to stay in office and instead leave the party. Scholz asked him to add the justice ministry to his portfolio.
Steinmeier also appointed Jörg Kukies, an economic adviser to Scholz, as finance minister. Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir from the Greens agreed to take on the research ministry.
Scholz had announced late Wednesday that he would seek a vote of confidence on Jan. 15 that he said might lead to an early election, perhaps as soon as March. The vote had otherwise been due next September.
After firing his finance minister, the chancellor had accused Lindner of breaching his trust and publicly calling for a fundamentally different economic policy, including what Scholz said would be tax cuts worth billions for a few top earners while at the same time cutting pensions for all retirees.
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