Pressure On Coalition Eases After FDP Members Back Continuing In Gov't

The pressure that was building within the federal coalition has been somewhat reduced following the announcement of results from an internal vote within the pro-business liberal Free Democrats (FDP). Held over the last two weeks of 2023, the non-binding internal vote of ~72k FDP members asked whether the party should remain part of the 'traffic light' coalition alongside Chancellor Olaf Scholz's centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) and the environmentalist Greens. In the event, only ~26k members opted to vote, with 52.2% of those supporting the party's continued presence in the federal coalition.

• The relief for FDP head and Finance Minister Christian Lindner may just prove temporary, though. The gov't faces a tricky task in getting the 2024 budget through the Bundestag over the coming weeks, with the country's agricultural sector up in arms about the gov'ts dismissalof their concerns regarding tax breaks on diesel and vehicles used in the sector.
• The next federal election is not due to take place until Oct 2025 at the latest. However, three state elections in September (Brandenburg, Saxony and Thuringia) and the European Parliament elections in June of this year could put greater pressure on an already-shaky coalition in the - at present likely - event of poor results for the traffic light coalition parties.