Germany in turmoil after coalition collapse
11/11/2024 6:05
German Chancellor Olaf
Scholz came under increasing pressure on Sunday to bring forward
a vote of confidence in parliament that would pave the way for
snap elections following the collapse of his governing
coalition.
Two leading members of the Green party, which is sharing
power with Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) in a minority
government, told Bild newspaper that the confidence vote should
be held in December, earlier than the chancellor's plans for
January.
Europe's largest economy was thrown into disarray last week
with the collapse of Scholz's three-way coalition and
disagreements over how much money the government should spend to
encourage growth and support Ukraine.
Greens Anton Hofreiter and Irene Mihalic are the most
prominent voices so far from the two parties still in power to
back an earlier vote. A confidence vote is a necessary precursor
to an election.
Scholz has suggested holding a vote of confidence in his
government on Jan. 15, with a snap election in March, but the
conservative opposition led by Friedrich Merz wants an election
in January.
"Olaf Scholz should call a vote of confidence in December so
that everything can be clarified before Christmas and the New
Year," Hofreiter told Bild.
Spokespeople for Scholz and the SPD did not immediately
respond to a request for comment. Scholz was scheduled to speak
in a nationally televised interview later on Sunday.
Scholz on Friday demanded a calm debate among Germany's
squabbling factions on setting a date for a snap election to
pull the country out of its political crisis.
Scholz called on parties to first agree on what legislation
could be passed in what remained of the current parliament but
denied trying to ram through his own policy agenda by delaying
an election.
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