Olaf Scholz faces calls for confidence vote after German coalition collapses

German opposition leader Friedrich Merz opposes timetable laid out by chancellor in news conference

Why has Germany’s government collapsed and what happens next?

Germany’s centre-right opposition leader led calls for an immediate vote of confidence to be held in parliament to head off months of political paralysis after Olaf Scholz’s ruling coalition collapsed.

Friedrich Merz, the chair of the former chancellor Angela Merkel’s party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), stands to profit most from the bombshell developments in Berlin, one day after Donald Trump’s election as US president upended the global political landscape.

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