By Christian Kraemer and Sarah Marsh
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's main opposition leader Friedrich Merz criticised Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday as "irresponsible" for delaying early elections, as an opinion poll also showed voters in favour of an early vote to pull the country out of political crisis.
Europe's largest economy was thrown into disarray this week with the collapse of Scholz's three-way coalition and disagreements over how much money the government should spend to spur growth and support Ukraine.
As parties positioned themselves, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck of the Greens party is set to fire the starting pistol on his own bid to become chancellor on Friday, a source familiar with the matter said.
The coalition's collapse comes at a tough time for Germany as its economy faces a second year of contraction, its companies fear a loss of competitiveness, while foreign policy challenges mount, from the re-election of Donald Trump to a tariff war with China.
Scholz has suggested holding a confidence vote in his government in January, paving the way for snap elections in March, but Merz wants elections to be held in January.
Along with "the vast majority of the German electorate, I believe it is irresponsible to handle this ... in such a way that it becomes a mere delay, with party-political motives obviously taking centre stage," said Merz, the leader of the Christian Democrats (CDU).
According to one opinion poll, the ZDF Politbarometer, a majority of Germans also want an election as soon as possible.
Some 84% think an earlier election is a good idea, while 13% do not, it said on Friday.
In the survey, which is based on data from the research group Wahlen, 30% want a new election in March, while 54% want an earlier date. Only 12% want the election to take place on the original date of September 2025.
Scholz's coalition collapsed on Wednesday as he announced the firing of his Finance Minister Christian Lindner from the Free Democrats (FDP) party, which together with the Greens and Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) have been in power since 2021.
Some 31% of people in the ZDF survey saw the FDP as being most to blame for the breakdown. Some 58% of citizens expect Scholz to emerge from the crisis weakened and 32% expect him to be strengthened. At the same time, 74% percent expected the FDP to be weakened, while only 16% saw them emerging stronger.
Habeck, 55, a former novelist and philosopher, has been a central figure in Germany's energy and climate policy as economy and climate protection minister, and been a vocal advocate for loosening Germany's purse strings to support industry.