German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reacts at a media briefing following his bilateral talks with Somali's President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, November 5, 2024. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse/File Photo
BERLIN (Reuters) -German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sacked his Finance Minister Christian Lindner on Wednesday after weeks of wrangling over the economic direction of the government, sources told Reuters.
Newspaper Bild had earlier reported that Lindner had recommended early elections as a solution to the budget impasse, a proposal Scholz had rejected.
It was unclear if Lindner's dismissal would lead also to the departure of the Free Democrats (FDP) from the coalition.
Without the FDP, Scholz could continue to head a minority government, either alone with his Social Democrats or with the Greens, the second largest party, relying on cobbled together ad hoc parliamentary majorities.
(Reporting by Sarah Marsh, Andreas Rinke, Christian Kraemer and Riham Alkousaa, Thomas EscrittEditing by Mark Heinrich, Matthias Williams and Gareth Jones)
