Early German elections likely as Scholz fires minister, coalition collapses | Politics News [Video]

Germany’s ruling three-party coalition has collapsed after Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired his finance minister, paving the way for an early election and triggering political chaos in Europe’s largest economy.

On Thursday, opposition conservatives urged Scholz to hold a vote of confidence immediately, enabling elections to be held in January, a day after he sacked Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the Free Democrats (FDP) party.

Scholz, who now leads a minority government with his Social Democrats and the Greens, had wanted to hold the confidence vote in January, which he would likely lose, triggering new elections by the end of March – six months ahead of elections originally scheduled for September.

Friedrich Merz, the leader of the centre-right Christian Democrats who are leading in nationwide polls, said this was too late and he wanted the vote to be held “by the beginning of next week at the latest”.

“Time is of …