German Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure Volker Wissing decided to leave the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP) amid the political crisis in the country, but retain his post in the government. He told reporters about this in Berlin.
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“I wouldn’t want to be ballast for my party,” Wissing said, noting that he had already informed FDP head Christian Lindner of his decision to leave the Free Democrats.
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At the same time, he stated that he did not intend to join another party.
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“After yesterday’s meeting of the coalition committee, the Chancellor asked me whether I would be willing to continue as Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure under the new circumstances. I thought about it and gave a positive answer,” Wissing said.
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Earlier, the head of the FDP faction in the Bundestag, Christian Duerr, said that allegedly all ministers from the FDP are completely leaving the ruling coalition in Germany (the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the Greens, the Free Democratic Party).
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An acute political crisis in Germany erupted due to disagreements in the coalition over budgetary, financial and economic policies, including further assistance to Kyiv and the issue of easing the so-called debt brake (a rule that prohibits spending more money from the budget than it receives). On Wednesday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz decided to dismiss Finance Minister Christian Lindner. He also said that early next year he would raise the issue of a vote of confidence in his government in the Bundestag, and early parliamentary elections could take place before the end of March 2025.
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On November 1, Lindner presented a project to bring the German economy out of the crisis. In the 18-page document, he actually proposed measures that contradict what other coalition partners are advocating. Many perceived Lindner’s proposals as a challenge to the multibillion-dollar investment plan put forward by Economy Minister Robert Habeck (the Greens) just a few days earlier. While Habeck wants to create a fund to stimulate investment and bypass Germany’s strict budget spending rules, Lindner favors tax cuts to stimulate the economy and an immediate rollback of all new regulations.
