It is only the sixth time that a no confidence vote has been called in the country of 83 million people, Europe's most populous and the continent's largest economy. The confidence vote was needed because in post-World War II Germany, the constitution does not allow the Bundestag to dissolve itself. Scholz called the confidence vote after weeks of infighting with his coalition partners on a 2025 budget and Germany's future economic policy prior to Lindner's firing. However, it is unlikely the group would be able to govern because other parties have refused to align themselves to the far-right, despite Germany’s parliamentary system traditionally producing coalitions. Facing pressure from both the right and the left, French Prime Minister Michel Barnier resigned earlier this month after he lost a confidence vote which collapsed his government.

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Persons: Olaf Scholz, Scholz, Christian Lindner, Lindner, Frank, Walter Steinmeier, Kallum Pickering, Peel Hunt, Pickering, Friedrich Merz, Emmanuel Macron, Michel Barnier, Macron, François Bayrou, Barnier Organizations: Social Democratic, Bundestag, Free Democrats, environmentalist Green Party, Peel, CNBC, Reuters, Labour Party won, French Locations: Germany, Thuringia, France