CDU leader Friedrich Merz’s demand for a vote of confidence was “part of the usual opposition exercise,” said the FDP leader.
Merz called on the Chancellor on Wednesday to present the changes in migration policy agreed between the federal and state governments at the beginning of November to the Bundestag as a legislative package in January and to link this to the vote of confidence. Scholz should make sure that he still has the support of his coalition.
Scholz had already rejected this demand on Wednesday. In an ARD interview, he described it as “a somewhat unfortunate gesture” by the CDU chairman. “The federal government has a stable majority and passes its laws,” said the Chancellor.
The Basic Law provides for the possibility for the Federal Chancellor to request the Bundestag to express its confidence in him. In this way, the Chancellor can be certain that his policies are still supported by the majority of the Bundestag.
The traffic light coalition has endured weeks of tough negotiations over the 2024 budget, which were ended by a compromise on Wednesday. As a result of the Federal Constitutional Court’s budget ruling, a financial gap of 17 billion euros had to be closed. This is now to be done through a package of measures ranging from savings to tax increases and subsidy cuts.
Within the FDP there is also a member survey about whether to remain in the coalition with the SPD and the Greens. However, Linder was calm about it. “That doesn’t stress me out because it’s an opportunity to make it clear that the FDP is helping to shape the direction of the government,” he told the RND. Without the FDP, the budget compromise would have resulted in tax increases and more debt, emphasized the FDP leader.
The initiative for the member survey goes back to a collection of signatures by the Kassel FDP, which wants to get the Liberals to withdraw from the coalition. However, the result is not binding for the party leadership.
