The German chancellor, the social democrat Olaf Scholz, dismissed his Finance Minister, the liberal leader Christian Lindner, this Wednesday, in the midst of the serious crisis that the ruling coalition of social democrats, greens and liberals had been going through for months. It is the end of a German cabinet that had become a penance: Lindner’s dismissal puts in fact end to the tripartite coalition that has not even reached three years of life.
The clash between Scholz and Lindner occurred at a meeting of the Executive this Wednesday, in which representatives of the three parties participated and which should have put an end to the differences over next year’s federal budget. According to several German media reports shortly before his dismissal, Lindner had offered to call early elections and maintain the Government until then. The social democrat reacted by doubling down: approving an emergency federal budget or immediate termination. The second scenario has ended up prevailing.
Minutes after the announcement, Scholz appeared at the Federal Chancellery. In a serious tone, he has also referred to Donald Trump’s victory in the US and the war in Ukraine. In his appearance, the social democratic leader explained his reasons and settled scores with his former Finance Minister before the cameras and without accepting questions. Scholz has accused Lindner of “breaking” his trust, “inappropriately blocking laws” and applying “short-sighted” political tactics.
Minutes later, Christian Lindner responded from the Bundestag (Parliament), also with personal references: “Olaf Scholz has shown, unfortunately, that he does not have the strength to make a restart of our country possible.” The liberal leader has directly accused Scholz of wanting to force him to fail in his responsibility as Finance Minister and lift the debt brake constitutionally anchored in Germany to finance the billion-dollar public investment.
The Trump factor
Scholz and Lindner have focused their cross-statements on the disagreements over the budget debate. Social Democrats and Greens want to expand public spending to boost the economy of a country in serious difficulties, while the liberals want to give a neoliberal turn to the Government’s economic policy. However, the outbreak of the tripartite coalition is due to more reasons: one of them seems to be the victory of Donald Trump in the US and the added difficulties that this will mean for Germany.
Scholz understands that the international moment is serious: Trump threatens to apply tariffs on European imports, which will be a new blow, for example, to the German automotive industry, which is already facing an existential crisis. Furthermore, the American president-elect will most likely suspend financial and military aid to Ukraine, which Scholz interprets as a direct threat to the security of Germany and Europe.
It seems that Trump’s victory has accelerated internal differences that were already insurmountable within the German Government. Scholz wanted to hit the table and explain to citizens that the seriousness of the situation requires radical, ambitious measures and greater public investment to meet expenses in defense and in support of the national industry, something that Lindner does not I was willing to support.
Motion of confidence and new elections
In his press conference, Scholz cleared up doubts about what card he will play from now on: the chancellor will submit to a vote of confidence on January 15 in the Bundestag. A vote that, barring any surprises, will lead to early elections next spring in Germany.
The main opposition party, the conservative CDU-CSU union, has been calling for early elections for weeks. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has been demanding it for months. The third leg of the failed tripartite coalition, the Greens, have already said that they will give way to new elections, according to the Minister of Economy and Vice Chancellor, the Green Robert Habeck. Meanwhile, the ecoliberals promise to remain within the Government.
With this current political panorama, it is difficult to think that Scholz can achieve a parliamentary majority that allows him to govern as a minority until the end of the legislature and approve laws with the specific support of opposition parties.
Five times a chancellor has submitted to a vote of confidence in the history of the Federal Republic, only twice successfully.
The abrupt end of the so-called ‘traffic light coalition’ on Wednesday night is the outcome of the chronicle of a death foretold. The tripartite had become a nervous wreck and a constant source of conflict, a situation aggravated by the regional elections on September 1 in the federal states of Thuringia and Saxony, in which the far-right obtained historic results. The strength of the AfD, currently second in most electoral polls, adds even more drama to Germany’s political situation.
The economic crisis that the country is going through in recent years, the rise of the extreme right and the fall in popularity of the parties that make up the Executive are behind a crisis that had been brewing for months. Not even the success of Scholz’s party in some territories such as Brandenburg had given the Government any respite.
Source: www.eldiario.es
