Germany’s Coalition Collapse Signals Uncertain Fiscal Path as Finance Chief Lindner Axed
© AP Photo / Markus SchreiberGerman Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrives for the cabinet meeting of the government at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024.
© AP Photo / Markus Schreiber
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Germany’s ruling three-party coalition fell apart after Chancellor Olaf Scholz dismissed Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the Free Democrats (FDP) party amid disagreements over economic recovery proposals and spending issues.
Without the “thrifty” Finance Minister Christian Lindner, Germany may “go into debt to finance projects it cannot afford given the dire state of the national economy,” political analyst Dr. Gregor Spitzen told Sputnik.
Lindner was “one of the few true professionals in the ‘traffic light coalition’ government,” the independent German journalist said, commenting on the sacking of the minister.
“As finance minister, he did what he was supposed to do - spend the limited resources of the state budget rationally, categorically refusing to raise the national debt threshold and calling for cuts in the most odious political projects, including the green transition, the bloated social sphere and the reckless aid to Ukraine, which has already exceeded 40 billion euros,” he noted.
❗️BREAKING
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) November 6, 2024
🇩🇪 German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has dismissed the country's finance minister Christian Lindner.
Last week, German media released Lindner's economic recovery proposals, clashing with the Social Democrats and Greens, pushing the government to a crisis point. pic.twitter.com/KIdeSGumLw
Germany’s ruling three-party coalition collapsed after Chancellor Olaf Scholz dismissed Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the Free Democrats (FDP) party on Wednesday. Scholz and Lindner disagreed over further aid to Ukraine while the 2025 budget deficit desperately needs plugging. Scholz has since appointed his protégé, Jörg Kukies, as the new finance minister.
The pundit added that besides Lindner's refusal to finance the Kiev regime, existing contradictions between the coalition partners “were too fundamental.”
According to Spitzen, the chancellor's minority government operating until after the early parliamentary elections will be “severely restricted in its actions.”
“The collapse of the "traffic light coalition" and early elections do not bode well for Scholz. Both the chancellor's personal popularity and that of his SPD party are far from qualifying him for the post of chancellor in the new government. However, after getting rid of Lindner, Scholz may try to pass a series of bills that require an increase in the national debt, thus sacrificing himself to the interests of a certain section of the German elite, and only then fall into political oblivion,” said Spitzen.
A total of 68% of Germans do not support the reappointment of Chancellor Olaf Scholz as the Social Democratic Party (SPD) candidate for the next elections, a YouGov survey for the German newspaper Tagesspiegel revealed in September.
The majority (60%) of those who voted for the SPD in 2021 no longer consider Scholz to be a suitable candidate.
Overall, the government's rating sank to a historic low in September, plummeting to just 29%, according to the results of a survey conducted by the INSA institute for the Bild am Sonntag publication.