Scholz dismisses Finance Minister Lindner
Published: Wednesday, Nov 6th 2024, 22:10
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The coalition crisis is coming to a dramatic head. Chancellor Olaf Scholz has dismissed Finance Minister Christian Lindner, as government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit told the German Press Agency. At 21.15, Scholz will make a statement to the press in the Chancellery.
Previously, Lindner had suggested to Scholz (SPD) that a new Bundestag election be held. The talks had shown that it was not possible to achieve sufficient common ground on economic and financial policy, participants quoted Lindner as saying. It was in the interests of the country to quickly regain stability and the ability to act.
Lindner proposed a vote of confidence
Lindner reportedly suggested that the "traffic light" parties should jointly seek new elections for the beginning of 2025 as quickly as possible, as in 2005, in order to enable a new government for Germany "in an orderly and dignified manner". The FDP would be prepared to jointly adopt the supplementary budget for 2024 and be part of a caretaker government.
Prior to this, the leaders of the SPD, Greens and FDP had 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.
Lindner had proclaimed an "autumn of decisions"
Some time ago, Lindner proclaimed the "autumn of decisions" for the coalition. He was referring primarily to next year's budget, which was to be passed in the Bundestag on November 29. He was also concerned with a strategy for leading Germany out of the economic crisis. To this end, he made proposals that escalated the dispute within the coalition. In his concept for an economic turnaround, Lindner calls for the permanent abolition of the solidarity surcharge for high earners and a change of course in climate policy, among other things.
There was considerable resistance to such ideas from the SPD and the Greens. However, Habeck also took a step towards Lindner. On Monday, he declared his willingness to use the billions in subsidies freed up after the postponement of the construction of an Intel plant in Magdeburg to plug budget holes.
©Keystone/SDA
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