Germany’s Merz urges Scholz to drastically move up timeline for snap election

BERLIN — Germany’s probable next chancellor, center-right leader Friedrich Merz, urged the country’s current center-left chancellor, Olaf Scholz, to dramatically accelerate the timing of an expected snap election following the collapse of the country’s three-party ruling coalition late Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters in Germany’s parliament on Thursday, Merz demanded Scholz call a vote of confidence within days, thereby moving up an expected snap election to the second half of January. In a statement following the coalition collapse, Scholz proposed a far longer timeline — a vote of confidence in mid January followed by a snap election by the end of March.

Merz, however, argued the county can’t wait that long to form a new government given the urgency of the political moment in Germany and Europe.

“There are also a whole series of international commitments, conferences and decisions in the European Union that now require a German federal government that is capable of acting,” Merz said. “We simply cannot afford to have a government without a majority in Germany for several months.”

Merz’s call is piling up pressure on Scholz, who had announced his intention to lead a minority government consisting of his SPD and the Greens with the aim of passing key bills, including a 2025 budget, before the end of the year. To pass legislation, however, Scholz would probably need support from Merz’s CDU, which now seems unlikely.

Christian Lindner, the departing finance minister — who was dismissed by Scholz on Wednesday — and leader of the fiscally conservative Free Democratic Party (FDP) echoed Merz’s call for an immediate vote of confidence.

“The chancellery must not become an election campaign center,” Lindner said on Thursday. “Our country needs a government that is not just in office, but one that can act,” he added. “In a democracy, nobody should be afraid of the voters.”

For the party leaders, there is also a clear political calculus behind the disagreement over the snap election timing.

Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), are currently leading in polls by a wide margin, with 32 percent support, and are set to lead any future coalition government. Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), on the other hand, is polling in third place with 16 percent, just behind the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

For the CDU, an earlier election would allow the party to capitalize on its relatively high level of current support — and give far less time for the parties that made up the ruling coalition — the SPD, the Greens and the FDP — to rebuild from the rubble of their fallen government. Scholz, on the other hand, wants time to attempt to bring his party back from near record-low polling numbers.

Even as the parties begin to campaign in earnest against one another, it’s likely they will need each other in some form following the next election. The CDU has vowed not to form a federal coalition with the far-right AfD, leaving it little choice to but govern with the SPD. Based on current polling, they may still need a third party to form a majority, raising the prospect that the next coalition could be just as fractious as the last one.

The Greens are currently polling at 10 percent, while the FDP is at 4 percent — below the threshold needed to make it into parliament.

Scholz is likely to face growing political pressure to not to put off the inevitable, particularly as Donald Trump prepares to take office in the U.S. in January. Trump’s presidency will usher in a period of great instability in the European Union, which relies on the U.S. for its defense. Many in Europe fear Trump will spark a trade war by imposing steep tariffs.

Merz was set to meet with Scholz on Thursday to discuss the way forward.

Germany’s coalition government collapsed Wednesday after Scholz fired his FDP finance minister, Christian Lindner, over persistent rifts on spending and economic reforms. The coalition had been on the brink since the European Parliament election in June, when the ruling parties suffered a historic drubbing.

Jörg Kukies, a close adviser to Scholz, will now replace Lindner as finance minister, according to media reports. Kukies is well known in Brussels after he served as state secretary for financial market policy and European policy from April 2018 until December 2021.

One FDP minister in the current government, Volker Wissing, who oversees transportation, said he would remain in the coalition and break with his own party, sparking an internal battle in the FDP that may not bode well for its election campaign. Wissing had strongly defended the three-party coalition in recent days, opposing his party’s ultimatums and threats to defect from the government.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who is ultimately the figure who could dissolve parliament should Scholz lose a confidence vote — as is likely — today pleaded with all parties to set aside partisan fighting.

“This is not the time for tactics and skirmishes,” Steinmeier said. “It is a time for reason and responsibility. I expect all those responsible to do justice to the magnitude of the challenges.”

This story is being updated.