Members of Germany’s smallest governing party vote to stay in Scholz’s coalition, prompting relief

BERLIN (AP) — Members of the smallest party in German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s unpopular coalition have voted in a low-profile ballot to stay in the troubled government, but the result underlines the three-party alliance’s difficulties. The pro-business Free Democrats, who in recent decades have leaned to the right, joined a coalition with Scholz’s Social Democrats and the environmentalist Greens, both left-leaning parties, in late 2021. The government has become notorious for infighting and the Free Democrats’ poll ratings have declined sharply. A few hundred members forced a vote on whether to stay in the coalition. Those who voted opted to stay in by a narrow margin of 52.2% to 47.8%, with just under 40% of members taking part.