Germans relieved, hope for a new beginning after govt's collapse

Elections may restore stability, give nation mandate to lead Europe amid challenges

- Markus Ziener

Following the collapse of the government, there is now a clear road map for new elections in February 2025 - and Germany is breathing a sigh of relief.

The governing three-party coalition has struggled too much during its term in office; the centrifugal forces between Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats, the Greens and, above all, the pro-business Free Democrats were too great.

Mr Scholz, who was so often at a loss for words and seen as lacking in strength, had not succeeded in holding together the three diverse partners to agree on viable compromises.

While his centre-left Social Democrats traditionally did not want to abandon the further expansion of the welfare state, the Greens would not let go of their radical climate change policy, which came primarily at the expense of the economy and therefore met with growing resistance from the Liberals.

The so-called "traffic light" government - named for the colours of the parties in the coalition, red for the Social Democratic Party, yellow for the Free Democratic Party and green for the Greens - overwhelmed from the start by the war in neighbouring Ukraine, ultimately lacked direction. The citizens no longer knew where this government was taking the country.

While the Social Democrats and Greens wanted to take on more debt in order to finance investments in infrastructure and support for Ukraine and wanted to increase social spending, the Liberals vehemently opposed additional public debt. This impasse led to the failure to agree on a budget for 2025.

Mr Scholz fired his finance minister, Mr Christian Lindner, who heads the Free Democrats, in early November, triggering the collapse of his government.