Kretschmer in favor of quick federal elections

Saxony's Minister President Michael Kretschmer has spoken out in favor of new elections as soon as possible following the failure of the traffic light coalition in the federal government. "Every day, every week that we get a new government sooner would be a good step", he said on the fringes of the meeting of East German heads of government in Berlin. He advised not to wait until January, but to clear the way for new elections quickly.

After a fierce dispute over the budget, Scholz had dismissed Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP). This led to an exchange of blows in the Bundestag over when a new election should be held. Speakers from the SPD and the Greens defended Chancellor Olaf Scholz's (SPD) timetable of calling a vote of confidence in parliament on January 15 in an hour-long debate. The new election could then take place in March. The opposition has renewed its insistent calls for the date to be brought forward significantly. The CDU/CSU assumes that the general election could take place on January 19, for example, if Scholz were to call the vote of confidence as early as next week.