San Francisco Frontiers - Germany's Scholz pressed to call vote after coalition collapse

The centre-left chancellor has vowed to cling on in a minority government for now, and to ask for a confidence vote in January that would likely lead to snap elections in March.

But the conservative opposition is pressing to hold the key vote next week rather than next year, at a time when Germany is suffering economic distress and global volatility.

Christian Democrats (CDU) leader Friedrich Merz -- whose alliance with Bavaria's CSU is leading in opinion polls -- said Scholz's alliance with the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats had "failed".

"The decision taken last night... is the end of the coalition government and thus the end of this legislative period," Merz said, adding that there was "absolutely no reason" to delay the confidence vote until January.

The call was echoed by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the hard-left BSW, whose rise has rattled Germany's traditionally staid party politics, as well as by the ousted Free Democrats (FDP).

Merz later met with Scholz and said he was open to helping the minority government pass legislation, on the condition that Scholz seek a confidence vote "in the coming days", a CDU party source said, adding that Scholz had declined to do so.

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the head of state in Europe's biggest economy, urged "reason and responsibility" on all sides and said Germany needed "stable majorities and a government that is able to act".

Now is not the time for "tactics and squabbling", he said, pointing to the "uncertain political situation... in our own country, in Europe, in the world, and also after the election in the United States".

NATO chief Mark Rutte meanwhile expressed confidence that Germany would remain a key player on the world stage.

"I'm sure that when it comes to defence, when it comes to foreign policy, that Germany will be able to fulfil its obligations," Rutte said. "I'm not worried about that."

- Bitter infighting -

Scholz's motley three-way crew of ideologically disparate parties took over with fanfare from chancellor Angela Merkel in 2021.

But the early spirit of unity quickly frayed as Germany was hammered by crises including the Ukraine war and soaring inflation.

After months of bitter infighting, mostly on economic and fiscal policy, the coalition finally broke apart Wednesday after Scholz sacked his rebellious finance minister Christian Lindner of the FDP.

The surprise move, which saw two other FDP ministers quit, leaves Scholz's Social Democrats and the Greens heading a precarious minority government, where it will have to ask Merz's party to back laws on a case-by-case basis.

Scholz said he would seek a confidence vote by January 15 so lawmakers could decide whether to call early elections by March -- more than half a year ahead of a previously scheduled September vote.

To shore up his depleted cabinet, Scholz appointed his party ally Joerg Kukies as his new finance minister.

The chancellor also delayed a visit to a European summit in Hungary by several hours and cancelled his planned trip to next week's COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan.

- 'Turbulent time' -

Germany's political turmoil could not have come at a worse time as the economy is set to shrink for a second year in a row amid dire geopolitical challenges.

"The early end of the coalition leaves Germany somewhat rudderless in what could be an exceptionally turbulent time right after Donald Trump won the US election," Berenberg bank analyst Holger Schmieding said in a research note.

But Schmieding said a snap election and new leadership in early 2025 might ultimately help, as "the constant bickering within the now-defunct three-party coalition had turned into a major obstacle to growth".

A new opinion poll gave the CDU/CSU alliance 32 percent support -- one point ahead of the combined total of the SPD with 15 percent, the Greens with 11 percent and the FDP with only five percent.

The AfD scored 18 percent in the Ipsos poll, making it the second-strongest party, but it is unlikely to enter any government as all other parties have vowed not to cooperate with it.

S.Jackson--SFF