German Chancellor rejects vote of confidence on Wednesday
Published: Monday, Nov 11th 2024, 17:10
Back to Live Feed
The exact date for a new election to the German parliament following the collapse of the coalition has yet to be set - but it is already clear that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) will not pave the way for this on Wednesday, as demanded by the Christian Democrats.
The German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit emphasized in Berlin "that the Federal Chancellor will not ask the question of confidence on Wednesday".
Hebestreit also made it clear that the Chancellor would decide on the date single-handedly if necessary if no agreement could be reached with the CDU and CSU. If the strongest opposition force is not interested in reaching an agreement, "then the Chancellor must decide and then raise the question of confidence," he said.
Scholz has passed on the question of deadlines to parliamentary group leaders
Scholz originally wanted to call a vote of confidence on January 15 in order to bring about a new election at the end of March. After strong public pressure, he showed himself willing to compromise on Sunday. "It's no problem at all for me to call a vote of confidence before Christmas if everyone agrees," said Scholz on the ARD program "Caren Miosga".
If the parliamentary group leaders of the SPD and CDU/CSU - Rolf Mützenich and Friedrich Merz - reached an agreement on this, he would respect it.
However, the Christian Democrats reject this procedure. "Scholz shouldn't throw any more smoke and mirrors now, but should quickly call a vote of confidence," First Parliamentary Secretary Thorsten Frei (CDU) told Bild.
Gitta Connemann, Chairwoman of the Mittelstands- und Wirtschaftsunion (MIT), believes the Chancellor has a duty. "He cannot simply push this decision away - certainly not onto the SPD parliamentary group leader," the CDU politician told the "Rheinische Post".
FDP also in favor of a quick re-election
Like the CDU/CSU, the FDP, which has left the coalition, is also pushing for an election date as early as possible. "The most important thing is that the country is soon in a position to make a decision on direction," said FDP Secretary General Bijan Djir-Sarai after his party's executive committee meeting. "That means the new election."
The FDP does not want to commit itself to supporting reform projects that have not yet been completed before deciding on the election date.
FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr warned of the economic consequences of a delay. "If Olaf Scholz has his way, we won't have a new viable government until next summer. We can no longer afford that," Dürr told the German Press Agency. "The vacuum that Olaf Scholz has maneuvered the country into is costing us jobs and prosperity every day."
Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) rejected warnings from the FDP of a "hanging game". "The FDP really is a flash in the pan party," he said in Berlin. "Of course there is a hanging game." It was avoidable, the FDP could have thought about it last Wednesday. That was the day the coalition collapsed.
Criticism of the Federal Returning Officer
Federal Election Commissioner Ruth Brand, who warned in a letter to the Chancellor of the "incalculable risks" of holding elections too early, has come in for criticism. "The Basic Law provides for clear deadlines and an orderly procedure for early elections," Patrick Schnieder, Parliamentary Secretary of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, told dpa.
"In the history of the Federal Republic of Germany, the implementation of these new election deadlines has never been a problem. We expect that the current Federal Returning Officer will also implement these requirements and not allow herself to be harnessed to the Chancellor's party-political cart."
Government spokesman Hebestreit rejected the accusation that Scholz was instrumentalizing Brand for party political purposes. "This accusation is absurd," he said. He understood the opposition's goal of getting to a new election as quickly as possible. "And yet it has to be a proper election. And you shouldn't ignore too many clues on the way there."
Berlin's state election director Stephan Bröchler also warns against an election date as early as the end of January, as demanded by the CDU/CSU. "I can only advise you to take a level-headed approach to the issue, listen to the experts and not get carried away when it comes to setting the election date," Bröchler told dpa.
Of course, a new election must also be organized for January if this is politically desired and decided by the Federal President. "But we must be aware that this jeopardizes the quality of democratic elections."
In Berlin, the 2021 Bundestag election had to be partially repeated due to serious shortcomings.
Parties report new members
General Secretary Djir-Sarai reported that the Liberals had recorded around 1,300 new members joining after the coalition was broken. By the weekend, there had been around 80 resignations. The number of FDP members had recently fallen to around 70,000.
According to General Secretary Matthias Miersch, the SPD has registered more than 1,000 new party members online since the traffic light crash last Wednesday.
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic