International
The German conservative leader urges Chancellor Scholz to call a vote of confidence after the breakup of the government coalition
The leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Friedrich Merz, urged German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday to submit to a vote of confidence next week at the latest, and not on January 15, as he announced yesterday, after the breakup of the coalition government.
In an appearance before the press, Merz said that “there is no reason to wait until January next year to ask for a vote of confidence,” and stressed that the government coalition, formed by social democrats, greens and liberals, “no longer has a majority” in the lower house.
“Therefore, we have to demand that the chancellor, by unanimous decision of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group – the Bavarian Christian Social Union – immediately convene a vote of confidence, no later than the beginning of next week,” he said.
Call for elections
The conservative politician said that he will ask Scholz at the meeting they will hold this noon “to clear the way” for elections and present his arguments in a subsequent meeting with the country’s president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Merz alluded to a whole series of international commitments, conferences and decisions in the European Union that “now require a German government to be able to act.”
“We simply cannot afford now to have a government without a majority in Germany for several months and then carry out an electoral campaign for several more months and then possibly several weeks of coalition negotiations. This now has to go fast,” he added.
He said that if Scholz submits to the vote of confidence now, it would be possible to hold general elections in the second half of January and assured that there is enough time for the parties to carry out all the necessary preparations.
“There is no reason at all to wait until the spring of next year,” he insisted.
Scholz’s chief advisor will take over the Finance portfolio
Jörg Kukies, an important advisor to the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and currently Secretary of State in the Chancellery, will assume the portfolio of Minister of Finance of the Government of a minority of Social Democrats and Greens, after the collapse of the coalition with the expulsion of the Liberals.
Kukies, 56, will replace the president of the Liberal Party (FDP), Christian Lindner, who was dismissed yesterday by Scholz with the argument of the loss of confidence and the unwillingness to find compromises to save the coalition.
Economist by training, he worked for a long time for the investment bank Goldman Sachs and before moving to the Foreign Ministry he was Secretary of State in the Ministry of Finance between 2018 and 2021.
The president demands that politicians be up to it
For his part, the President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, urged on Thursday all political leaders to assume their responsibility in the face of the enormous challenge now of having a minority government and, almost certainly, early general elections in March after the breakup of the coalition.
“This is not the time for tactics and skirmishes. It’s time for common sense and responsibility. I expect all those responsible to rise to the magnitude of the challenges,” said the head of state in a brief appearance before the media.
Steinmeier recalled that in the 75-year history of the Federal Republic of Germany, it has rarely happened that a government coalition has ceased to have a majority in the Lower House or Bundestag before the end of the legislature.
The president of Germany said that, although the collapse of the Government “is not the end of the world” and the German Constitution includes provisions for these cases, “it is a political crisis that we have to leave behind and that we will leave behind.”
Before the collapse of the coalition, the general elections were scheduled for September 28, while now, given the high possibility that Scholz will lose the vote because he is in the minority, they will probably be held in advance in March.
The German President must decide on the dissolution of the Lower House if the Lower House withdraws its confidence in the Chancellor, in accordance with Article 68 of the Basic Law.
“I am willing to make this decision,” said Steinmeier, who insisted that Germany “needs stable majorities and a government capable of acting,” so “that will be my yardstick.”
International
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Ecuador’s Armed Forces carried out an operation on Monday — including airstrikes — against illegal mining in the town of Buenos Aires, in the country’s north, Defense Minister Gian Carlo Loffredo reported.
The mountainous, gold-rich area has been a hotspot for illegal mining since 2017, located in the Andean province of Imbabura.
In 2019, former president Lenín Moreno deployed around 2,400 soldiers to the region in an attempt to curb the illegal activity. “The operation began with mortar fire, followed by gunfire and bombing runs by Supertucano aircraft,” Loffredo said in a video released by the Defense Ministry.
He added that the operation would continue on Tuesday with patrols across the area to locate possible members of “irregular armed groups that may have crossed from the Colombian border.”
The Armed Forces stated on X that the intervention focused on the “complete elimination of multiple illegal mining tunnels” in the areas known as Mina Nueva and Mina Vieja.
The operation coincided with the deployment of a military and police convoy into Imbabura, which has been the epicenter of protests against President Daniel Noboa since September 22, following his decision to scrap the diesel subsidy.
International
Caracas shuts embassy in Oslo without explanation following Machado’s Nobel win
Venezuela has announced the closure of its embassy in Norway, just days after opposition leader María Corina Machado was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Venezuelan diplomatic mission provided no explanation for its decision on Monday.
“It is regrettable,” a ministry spokesperson said. “Despite our differences on several issues, Norway wishes to keep the dialogue with Venezuela open and will continue to work in that direction.” The ministry also emphasized that the Nobel Committee operates entirely independently from the Norwegian government.
In its announcement, the Nobel Committee stated that Machado met the criteria established by Alfred Nobel, “embodying the hope for a different future, where the fundamental rights of Venezuelans are heard.”
International
Sheinbaum: Urgent to restore access to towns cut off by heavy rains
Thousands of military personnel and civilians in Mexico worked tirelessly on Tuesday to clear roads blocked by the torrential rains of recent days, which have left more than 300 communities cut off across central and eastern regions of the country. Authorities also launched mass fumigation efforts in several affected areas to prevent the spread of dengue fever.
The official death toll remains at 64, though dozens of people are still missing. President Claudia Sheinbaumacknowledged that the government does not yet know the full situation in many of the isolated villages, which range in population from 500 to 1,000 inhabitants.
“The reopening of roads is one of the greatest urgencies,” Sheinbaum said. “It’s essential to guarantee air bridges, food supplies, clean water, and a proper census of the isolated communities so we can determine the condition of every person living there.”
Private construction companies are also assisting the effort with heavy machinery and technical support to help reopen highways and reconnect rural areas.
Armed forces target illegal mines in Northern Ecuador with bombing raids
Caracas shuts embassy in Oslo without explanation following Machado’s Nobel win
Sheinbaum: Urgent to restore access to towns cut off by heavy rains
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