German Chancellor Olaf Scholz fired his finance minister on Wednesday, leaving the government teetering on the brink of collapse, writes CNN.

In a televised address, Scholz said he had dismissed Finance Minister Christian Lindner saying it “was necessary to prevent harm to our country”. The firing came after days of political negotiation between the key members of Germany’s ruling “traffic light” coalition government – Scholz of the Social Democratic Party, Lindner of the Free Democratic Party, Robert Habeck of the Green Party. Following the announcement, which comes amid fears that an incoming Trump administration could spell bad news for an already ailing German economy, Lindner’s Free Democratic Party said it had left the coalition but Habeck said the Greens would remain.

Scholz said he would now call a confidence vote for January 15, which could allow elections to be held by the end of March next year. He said he would remain in office until January 15 and attempt to get the most important legislation done, suggesting he would talk to opposition leader Friedrich Merz’ of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to pass laws relating to the economy and defense. “The economy cannot wait until after the elections”, - Scholz said.

Wednesday’s fallout relates to the so-called “traffic light crisis,” as it is known locally in reference to the colors of the center-left governing coalition, which was triggered by competing views on the future of Germany’s economy among the 3 partners.

Prior to his firing, Lindner had triggered days of wrangling with the publication of an 18-page economic paper published last week, entitled “Germany’s economic turnaround”. It had been described in German media as the coalition’s divorce papers, as its tone and contents appear distinctly at odds with the positions of his government partners.

In the detailed document, which advocates for tax cuts, Lindner said “an economic turnaround with a partly fundamental revision of key political decisions is necessary in order to avert damage to Germany as a business location”. Aside from the divides it reveals with his coalition partners, cynics are also suggesting that Lindner’s paper looks like a campaign manifesto. Before Wednesday’s developments, Germany’s next scheduled elections were due to take place in September 2025.