Opposition parties and businesses in Germany have called for new elections to be held as soon as possible after the three-way coalition government collapsed, plunging the country into political turmoil. They are urging an immediate vote of confidence in chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition “by the beginning of next week at the latest”.
The collapse of Mr Scholz’s coalition government, triggered by his decision to fire finance minister Christian Lindner of the Free Democrats (FDP) over a dispute about how to plug a multi-billion euro hole in the country’s budget, has left Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) and Greens without a parliamentary majority.
