MOSCOW (Sputnik) – German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Thursday he would be ready to call a snap election if Chancellor Olaf Scholz fails a vote of no confidence in the Bundestag.
«If the Bundestag deprives the chancellor of confidence in line with Article 68 of the Basic Law, I am ready to accept this decision. Our constitution outlines the specific circumstances for such a decision, but our country needs a sustainable majority and a government capable of functioning. This will be my criterion,» Steinmeier said in a press address.
He said the mere fact of initiating the vote of no confidence will enable a snap election, even though there has rarely been a minority government in parliament during Germany’s entire 75-year modern history.
The president also confirmed that he would grant Scholz’s request for the dismissal of Lindner and two other Free Democrat ministers.
«The end of the coalition is not the end of the world. It is a political crisis that we must and will overcome. The Basic Law has clear provisions in this regard,» he added.
Budget disagreements in Germany’s traffic-light coalition have continued since last year. Lindner, the leader of the Free Democratic Party, has accused Scholz of a lack of ambition, specifically due to his push to suspend the so-called debt brake rule, which is a constitutionally enshrined cap on new government borrowing. Last year, the budget crisis triggered mass protests of farmers around the country.
