Two thirds of German voters 'want prompt new elections'

Europe's biggest economy was hurled into political turmoil when Scholz's three-party alliance imploded after months of infighting on Wednesday, the day Donald Trump won the US presidential election.

Centre-left leader Scholz has vowed to cling on in a minority government for now, and to ask for a confidence vote in mid-January that is likely to lead to snap elections in March.

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But the conservative opposition CDU and all other major parties have demanded Scholz immediately pave the way for new elections -- a position shared by a majority of the electorate, according to the latest survey.

Some 65 percent of voters are in favour of prompt new elections, while just 33 percent support Scholz's timeline, according to the opinion poll for public broadcaster ARD.

The troubled coalition between Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) finally collapsed on Wednesday night.

The crisis, centred on discord over economic and fiscal policy, came to a head when Scholz sacked his rebellious finance minister Christian Lindner from the FDP, ousting the smallest party from the coalition.

The move leaves the SPD and the Greens ruling in a precarious minority government at a time when Germany is facing multiple domestic and international crises.

Scholz is counting on the support of the conservative opposition CDU-CSU alliance to help pass a flurry of laws through parliament before Christmas.

But CDU leader Friedrich Merz has instead called for an immediate confidence vote to pave the way for elections as early as January.

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Merz, who hopes to become Germany's next chancellor, has made clear he would only offer Scholz support on passing laws if Scholz agrees to this demand for an early confidence vote.

"Before that, we will not hold talks on any topic with the remaining government," he told ARD.

The CDU leader said that a half-hour meeting he held with Scholz on Thursday had ended with them "parting in disagreement".