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Crisis talks in the coalition of Scholz’s Social Democratic Party, the Greens and Lindner’s Free Democratic Party had come to a head after the FDP issued a paper with demands for liberal economic reforms that were difficult for the other two parties to accept.
During a dramatic meeting of leaders from the three parties on Wednesday evening in the chancellery, Lindner told Scholz he saw no way of continuing the coalition and urged him to pave the way for snap elections.
This resulted in Scholz announcing he would sack him, two people with knowledge of the discussions told POLITICO.
Although Scholz could potentially seek to continue ruling in a minority government, he has no majority to pass a budget, increasing the likelihood of a vote of no confidence and snap elections — potentially in early March.
The FDP is the smallest party in the coalition and is now polling at only four percent — below the threshold needed to make it into the German parliament in the next federal election, scheduled for September — meaning its leaders have been mulling a coalition break in order to save their political futures.
Lindner’s policy paper, leaked to the media last week, called for tax cuts and a scaling back of climate policies in order to stimulate economic growth — both positions that put the party at odds with his coalition partners.