Cdu: Germany to vote as soon as possible. Scholz-Merz summit in vain

The day after the earthquake that shook German politics, with the torpedoing of Finance Minister Christian Lindner and the end of the traffic light coalition, the election campaign is in full swing. The chancellor, Olaf Scholz, appointed one of his closest aides, Jörg Kukies, in place of the former ally.

On 6 November, Scholz announced that he will submit to a vote of confidence on 15 January, a scenario that could lead to elections in March. He needs time to lift the Spd's fortunes, or at least to try. The Greens, who remain in the government, are in the same boat. In order to pass any measure, however, they will have to build ad hoc majorities in parliament, enlisting the support of the oppositions. But the stalemate in Berlin obviously reverberates in the European Union.

Merz, on the other hand, is chomping at the bit, he has the opposite need: he has been waiting 25 years to become chancellor and in the polls, the Cdu is well ahead. He agreed to meet Scholz, who wanted to test the waters: the summit lasted barely 25 minutes. Merz wants a vote of confidence on the premier as early as next week, in order to go to the polls in January. The president of the Republic could then dissolve parliament in the next 21 days. 'We will then have enough time to see if there are issues we can decide on together,' Merz said. And perhaps approve a new version of the budget law for 2025, on which the semaphore coalition has crashed, not least because of divisions over the debt brake. Lindner, increasingly in line with the Cdu, defended austerity to the end. The manoeuvre was expected in parliament on 14 November and should be passed by the end of the year.

The ultra-right Alternative für Deutschland is joining the Christian Democrats. Waiting until mid-January 'would be irresponsible', said leader Alice Weidel. Afd is currently second in the polls, ahead of the SPD, and will be able to ride the anti-system propaganda in this crisis of the traditional parties. As it has already done successfully in the eastern Länder.

Lindner is on the same line: 'The right thing would be an immediate vote of confidence and new elections'. He winks at the Cdu, proposes himself as a partner in the next government and will run as Spitzenkandidat of the Liberals, who, however, travel under 5% and risk being left out of Parliament. Not all of the Liberal ministers have left the government: surprisingly, the head of Transport, Volker Wissing, is staying on and, on the contrary, is leaving the Fdp.