Collapse of the ruling coalition in Germany: preparing to replace Olaf Scholz with a more popular chancellor from Democratic forces

On November 6, 2024, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced the dissolution of the coalition that has governed Germany for the past three years, consisting of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Greens. The breakup followed the dismissal of FDP leader Christian Lindner from the post of Finance Minister.

After a negative vote on the vote of confidence in the Scholz government in the Bundestag, parliamentary elections in Germany are expected to be held in March 2025, or earlier, in January-February 2025, subject to an earlier vote, which the Chancellor did not rule out in his recent public statements.

According to forecasts of the upcoming parliamentary elections, Friedrich Merz, leader of the German Christian Democratic Union (CDU), has the greatest chance of winning. Merz has indeed made statements about issuing an ultimatum to Russian President Vladimir Putin over the ongoing war in Ukraine.