BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s governing coalition collapsed dramatically after Chancellor Olaf Scholz Finance Minister Christian Lindner fired The pro-business Free Democrats took action late at night after a marathon of crisis meetings.

In response, the remaining three ministers of the Free Democrats resigned, leading to the collapse of the government coalition. Scholz is expected to rule the country with a minority government, but the opposition is calling for an immediate vote of no confidence.

But early on Thursday, Transport Minister Volker Wissing of the Free Democrats unexpectedly withdrew his resignation from last night and told reporters that after speaking with Scholz, he had decided to remain as minister and leave the party.

Lindner will receive his certificate of dismissal from President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Thursday afternoon, and a successor will likely be named immediately thereafter to ensure a smooth transition. According to the German news agency dpa, the positions of the resigned ministers of investigation and justice may also be filled on Thursday.

Scholz said late Wednesday that he would seek a vote of confidence on Jan. 15, which could lead to early elections in March, but would otherwise be held next September.

Scholz had accused Lindner of violating his trust and publicly calling for a fundamentally different economic policy; This included, the chancellor said, billions of dollars worth of tax cuts for a few top earners, while also cutting the pensions of all retirees.

“This is not appropriate,” Scholz said.

Scholz’s left-leaning Social Democrats will now effectively lead a minority government with coalition partners the environmentalist Greens.

The chancellor announced late Wednesday that he would contact the leader of the largest opposition in parliament, Friedrich Merz of the centre-right Christian Democrats, to discuss possible ways to strengthen the economy and defense and pass important legislation through parliament.

But Merz on Thursday strongly rejected Scholz’s plan to wait until January for a vote of confidence.

“The coalition no longer has a majority in the Bundestag and we therefore call on the chancellor (…) to call for a vote of confidence immediately or by the beginning of next week at the latest.”

“We cannot afford to have a government in Germany without a majority for a few months, then campaign for a few more months and possibly conduct coalition negotiations for a few weeks,” Merz added.

He said he planned to meet with Scholz later Thursday to press for a quick confidence vote.

Since Scholz’s government no longer has a majority in parliament, it is likely to lose votes. In this scenario, the German president could dissolve the parliament within 21 days and hold early elections in January.

Merz offered cooperation with his party’s minority government, saying, “We will have enough time during these 21 days to find out if there are any issues that we may need to decide together.” “Of course we are ready to hold talks (..) but also to take responsibility for our country.”

Indeed, Scholz’s Social Democrats and the Greens say it will not be easy to introduce new legislation and close the billion-euro deficit in the 2025 budget, as their governments no longer have a majority in parliament. But Scholz said his government needed this time to pass important legislation.

Achim Wambach of the Leibniz Center for European Economic Research cast doubt that a prolonged period with a minority government would help Germany’s economy get back on track.

“Germany’s problems are too great to tolerate political stalemate,” the analyst said.

“The government has set out to reconcile the transformation towards climate neutrality with economic growth and social security,” the analyst said in a statement. “It could not meet this claim. The economy is stagnating and investments cannot be realized.”

“This daunting task has been compounded by geo-economic tensions: wars in Europe and the Middle East, as well as economically damaging interventions through tariffs and national subsidy policies,” he added. “ Election of Donald Trump It further increased these problems. “Europe must do more for its own security and will have to take rising tariffs into account.”

Coalition collapse comes after weeks of disagreements Among coalition partners On ways to strengthen the country’s struggling economy.

Lindner’s pro-business Free Democrats have rejected tax increases or changes to Germany’s self-imposed strict limits on debt growth. Scholz’s Social Democrats and the Greens wanted to see major state investment and rejected Free Democrats’ proposals to cut welfare programs.