Zürcher Nachrichten - Germany's Scholz under pressure to call early vote after coalition collapses

EUR -
AED 3.954374
AFN 73.348848
ALL 98.691551
AMD 416.266262
ANG 1.938555
AOA 982.416211
ARS 1068.856121
AUD 1.6224
AWG 1.937901
AZN 1.833154
BAM 1.964608
BBD 2.171817
BDT 128.543918
BGN 1.956161
BHD 0.405833
BIF 3174.260764
BMD 1.076612
BND 1.436654
BOB 7.432322
BRL 6.116983
BSD 1.075612
BTN 91.018065
BWP 14.496724
BYN 3.520116
BYR 21101.591542
BZD 2.168201
CAD 1.494003
CDF 3087.722665
CHF 0.943408
CLF 0.037591
CLP 1037.250577
CNY 7.706605
CNH 7.664717
COP 4751.087932
CRC 551.457001
CUC 1.076612
CUP 28.530213
CVE 110.761581
CZK 25.290903
DJF 191.546991
DKK 7.457265
DOP 64.798709
DZD 143.762206
EGP 53.087407
ERN 16.149177
ETB 129.082422
FJD 2.416127
FKP 0.82379
GBP 0.833045
GEL 2.933745
GGP 0.82379
GHS 17.565753
GIP 0.82379
GMD 76.980398
GNF 9276.590078
GTQ 8.301217
GYD 225.04897
HKD 8.368277
HNL 27.132138
HRK 7.416811
HTG 141.524502
HUF 407.755518
IDR 16924.337706
ILS 4.015644
IMP 0.82379
INR 90.824062
IQD 1409.078107
IRR 45330.740949
ISK 148.313887
JEP 0.82379
JMD 170.390754
JOD 0.763423
JPY 165.859046
KES 138.764335
KGS 92.779172
KHR 4371.599352
KMF 493.761114
KPW 968.950389
KRW 1499.410384
KWD 0.330326
KYD 0.896394
KZT 530.294729
LAK 23486.863207
LBP 96323.561584
LKR 314.946159
LRD 205.993538
LSL 19.125993
LTL 3.178955
LVL 0.651232
LYD 5.21232
MAD 10.629556
MDL 19.238072
MGA 5003.338707
MKD 61.527961
MMK 3496.793174
MNT 3658.326972
MOP 8.613377
MRU 42.531287
MUR 50.008822
MVR 16.580793
MWK 1865.127346
MXN 21.624475
MYR 4.740338
MZN 68.80085
NAD 19.125993
NGN 1804.595095
NIO 39.587853
NOK 11.825343
NPR 145.624827
NZD 1.794674
OMR 0.414511
PAB 1.075622
PEN 4.05842
PGK 4.316352
PHP 63.112599
PKR 298.869356
PLN 4.340228
PYG 8362.413844
QAR 3.921984
RON 4.975774
RSD 117.008331
RUB 105.482017
RWF 1460.721772
SAR 4.044487
SBD 8.972388
SCR 14.650584
SDG 647.58067
SEK 11.633668
SGD 1.427625
SHP 0.82379
SLE 24.439655
SLL 22576.007977
SOS 614.744687
SRD 37.502695
STD 22283.690866
SVC 9.411935
SYP 2705.019768
SZL 19.115524
THB 36.856191
TJS 11.45576
TMT 3.778907
TND 3.370511
TOP 2.521534
TRY 36.854635
TTD 7.293564
TWD 34.701889
TZS 2933.767504
UAH 44.595207
UGX 3958.748402
USD 1.076612
UYU 44.760677
UZS 13757.680314
VEF 3900082.853073
VES 47.075092
VND 27319.024764
VUV 127.81755
WST 3.015788
XAF 658.898825
XAG 0.031917
XAU 0.000396
XCD 2.909597
XDR 0.805898
XOF 658.904973
XPF 119.331742
YER 268.964501
ZAR 18.817344
ZMK 9690.812532
ZMW 29.15042
ZWL 346.668565
  • RBGPF

    63.1700

    63.17

    +100%

  • CMSD

    -0.1900

    24.85

    -0.76%

  • SCS

    0.7400

    13.06

    +5.67%

  • CMSC

    -0.1700

    24.51

    -0.69%

  • BP

    0.2000

    30.16

    +0.66%

  • NGG

    -1.3500

    64.12

    -2.11%

  • RIO

    -0.1700

    65.33

    -0.26%

  • BTI

    0.1800

    35.64

    +0.51%

  • BCC

    3.2700

    141.76

    +2.31%

  • RELX

    -0.2000

    47.71

    -0.42%

  • RYCEF

    0.0800

    7.38

    +1.08%

  • GSK

    -1.1200

    35.9

    -3.12%

  • JRI

    -0.0200

    13.25

    -0.15%

  • BCE

    -0.1000

    28.74

    -0.35%

  • AZN

    -2.4200

    63.85

    -3.79%

  • VOD

    -0.1000

    9.31

    -1.07%

Germany's Scholz under pressure to call early vote after coalition collapses
Germany's Scholz under pressure to call early vote after coalition collapses / Photo: Odd ANDERSEN - AFP

Germany's Scholz under pressure to call early vote after coalition collapses

Germany's conservative opposition heaped pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz's crisis-hit government Thursday to allow for speedy elections by calling a confidence vote next week rather than next year.

Text size:

Christian Democrats (CDU) chief Friedrich Merz made the demand after Scholz's three-party coalition imploded on Wednesday, just as the world was digesting news that Donald Trump is headed back to the White House.

Merz -- whose centre-right alliance with Bavarian sister party CSU is leading in opinion polls -- said Scholz's unhappy alliance with the Greens and the Free Democrats had "failed."

After months of bitter infighting, it finally broke apart on Wednesday night after the chancellor sacked his rebellious finance minister Christian Lindner from the Free Democrats (FDP).

The shock move leaves Scholz's Social Democrats and the Greens ruling in 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 can decide whether to call early elections by March -- more than half a year ahead of a previously scheduled September vote.

Scholz said he would reach out to Merz on Thursday, emphasising in a message on X that "cooperation and compromise have made Germany strong ... I'll continue to work on that."

But the ambitious opposition leader made his own demand -- calling for a confidence vote now to pave the way for elections as early as January.

"The decision taken last night... is the end of the coalition government and thus the end of this legislative period," Merz told party colleagues.

"There is absolutely no reason to ask the vote of confidence until January," he added ahead of expected talks with both Scholz and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who urged "reason and responsibility" from all sides.

- 'Left rudderless' -

On Wednesday night, CSU leader Markus Soeder, had already demanded that "there must be no tactical delays."

Alice Weidel of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party made the same demand, calling the end of the coalition a long-overdue "liberation for our country."

A new opinion poll gives 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 so far it is unlikely to enter any government as all other parties have vowed not to cooperate with it.

Germany's political turmoil could not have come at a worse time for Europe's biggest economy, which 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," wrote Berenberg bank analyst Holger Schmieding.

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

Scholz was due to head to an European summit in Budapest on Thursday to discuss global crises, including Ukraine's war with Russia and the Middle East conflict, all impacted by the US election outcome.

Leaders are gathering for the talks hosted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a Trump supporter and one of the EU's main sceptics of support for Kyiv.

NATO chief Mark Rutte on Thursday expressed confidence in Germany remaining 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."

- 'Incomprehensible egoism' -

At home, to shore up his depleted cabinet, Scholz has already tapped his party ally and finance expert Joerg Kukies, to be his new finance minister, government sources told AFP.

One of sacked Lindner's party allies, Transport Minister Volker Wissing, meanwhile opted to bolt his party and stay in his ministerial post, explaining that "I want to stay true to myself."

The FDP had long disagreed with the SPD and the Greens, especially on how to carve up a tight budget and jumpstart the troubled German economy.

Scholz on Wednesday bitterly attacked the ousted finance minister for his "petty political tactics" and accused him of a level of egoism that is "completely incomprehensible."

Scholz declared that "we now need clarity on how we can soundly finance our security and defence in the coming years without jeopardising the cohesion of the country."

"With a view to the election in America, this is perhaps more urgent than ever."

A.P.Huber--NZN