German President Dismisses Three Ministers
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier dismissed three ministers on November 7.
Finance Minister Christian Lindner, Justice Minister Marco Buschmann and Education and Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger have lost their posts. All three are members of the Free Democratic Party.
Why Steinmeier fired three ministers
According to TASS , State Secretary of the Federal Chancellery Jörg Kukis was appointed head of the Ministry of Finance, Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure Volker Wissing was appointed head of the Ministry of Justice, and Minister of Food and Agriculture Cem Özdemir was appointed Minister of Education.
The personnel changes in the German government were the result of the collapse of the ruling "Traffic Light" coalition, which includes the Social Democratic Party of Germany, the FDP and the Greens.
The political crisis in Germany erupted due to disagreements within the coalition over financial, economic and budgetary policies, including on issues of further support for Ukraine and easing the so-called debt brake.
Yesterday, German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz announced that he had asked Steinmeier to dismiss Lindner.
Scholz also said that he plans to ask the Bundestag for a vote of confidence on January 15. This would allow early elections to be held in March.
On November 1, Lindner presented a plan to bring the German economy out of the crisis, which included measures that contradicted what other coalition partners were advocating.
As Reuters reported, many saw Lindner's initiative as a challenge to the multi-billion dollar investment plan proposed a few days earlier by Economy Minister Robert Habeck.
