On the night of November 6th, the German Parliament reached a point of “Nearing collapse,” due to the sacking of the Finance Minister Christian Lindner. The sacking of Christian Lindner is important, because he just so happens to be the leader of the German Free Democratic Party (FDP) in short, who is a part of the governing parties of Germany, the Traffic light coalition. To help you understand this, Germany used to be governed by the three major parties who together held the majority of government. The political coalition includes: The Reds (SPD), The Greens, and The Yellow (FDP). In the past, this coalition ruled Germany as they had the majority control of the government and now due to the dismissal of Christian Lindner, The Free Democratic Party took back all of their Ministers and Congressmen leading to a dysfunctional parliament. Scholz, the Chancellor of Germany requested the Federal President of Germany for permission to dismiss the Finance Minister because of their disagreement regarding the German economy.
Why is this important and a major issue for Germany?
Due to the three parties having a majority in the past, any decision could be easily approved and law be made into effect. This cannot happen anymore due to the exit of the FDP. Ever since the FDP left the coalition, Chancellor Scholz no longer held the majority and broke the usual stability of the German government. Now the Chancellor will hold a vote in government in January. If he wins, the same political parties in power right now would stay in power until early elections in late March which benefits Scholz. If not, then later elections would take place which could lead to a major shift in power inside not just Germany, but the whole continent of Europe and the European Union due to dramatic shifts in geopolitics and different policies in general. This may not sound so bad, however, in Germany the former traffic light coalition and the rest of the parties are vastly different in beliefs and policy. Due to no longer holding the majority, the Chancellor and other party officials are unable to pass laws or make any decisions at all, a clawless wolf.
Can this lead to massive change?
Yes, it can. Scholz’s opponent Friedrich Merz is going to take this opportunity and replace Scholz, as he knows that his days as Chancellor are numbered. Merz is confident and has every right to be confident in his chances of taking power in Germany, as he was unanimously elected as Conservative candidate for Chancellorship. This means that Merz holds the 100% support of the two major conservative parties, the CDU and CSU. Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union respectively. Merz made it clear that he wants to close the border which would decrease Germany’s illegal immigration and crime problem. Merz is also in good relations with Trump.
In summary, due to the dismissal of Christian Lindner, the governing parties lost their power and majority, allowed for an actual opponent a good chance to replace the current governing party, and allowed for a possible massive change in economics, the border, wartime, social security, and foreign policy.