Opposition parties have made calls for an immediate vote of confidence after Chancellor Scholz sacked Finance Minister Christian Lindner. Losing the vote would pave the way for snap elections.
A co-leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), Alice Weidel said at a press conference in Berlin on Thursday that the “traffic light” or Ampel coalition — with this German nickname based on the three parties’ red, yellow and green colors — “came to an end just as unworthily as it governed.”
“That it will end early is the only good thing one can say about three years of an Ampel government,” Weidel said. She called its early demise a “liberation,” using a German football term for when a defender clears the ball far away in what could otherwise have been a dangerous situation.
She also called Scholz’s handling of the split with Lindner “unworthy,” saying, “That’s not the way you deal with former coalition partners, pushing blame onto each other.”
No German mainstream parties are currently willing to ally with the AfD in a coalition at the federal level, saying their positions are irreconcilable. But Weidel called for those to the right of center to reconsider.
“It’s the responsibility of the [CDU/CSU] and FDP to come to terms with the second-strongest opposition party according to the polls, the AfD, to enable a forward-looking government capable of action, without the SPD and the Greens,” she said. “The AfD stands ready.”
She also called for a much quicker roadmap towards snap elections than the one proposed by Scholz.
“To put a confidence motion to parliament only on January 15 is irresponsible. You can’t carry on with a rump government formed out of a govermment that nobody wanted anymore. Chancellor Scholz lost the confidence of the German population long ago. And he must immediately clear the path for new elections and a confidence motion,” she said.
As a result, Weidel said her party would appeal for a confidence vote to take place in the Bundestag next week.
