Christian Lindner, leader of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), whose resignation as Germany's finance minister was requested by Chancellor Olaf Scholz this evening, said that the chancellor had tried to force him to abandon the Federal Republic's constitutional debt brake (constitutionally determined government debt). ceiling – ed.'s note), reports Reuters.
“Olaf Scholz refuses to admit that our country needs a new economic model,” Lindner told reporters after talks between the ruling coalition partners broke down tonight. “Olaf Scholz has shown that he does not have the power to give a new impetus to our country.”
“Instead, this afternoon the Chancellor gave me an ultimatum to agree to suspend the debt brake as mandated by the constitution. “I can't do that because it would violate the oath I took when I took office,” Lindner said.
He added that his neoliberal party, which is currently on the verge of being expelled from parliament in elections likely to be held at the end of March, is ready to take responsibility and fight to prove it in another government, Reuters said.
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