Senior Scholz ex-ally quits over ‘D-Day’ paper on German government collapse

German minister of finance Christian Lindner, from left, joins Bijan Djir-Sarai, Free Democratic Party secretary general, and Christian Durr, chairman of the Free Democratic Party parliamentary group, for a press statement after his dismissal by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in Berlin (Christoph Soeder/AP)

A senior figure in the party whose departure from Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s coalition three weeks ago put Germany on the road to an early election has resigned in a furore over an internal document discussing how the party could leave the government, a presentation whose title referred to “D-Day”.

Bijan Djir-Sarai of the pro-business Free Democrats said he was quitting as general secretary, the official responsible for day-to-day political strategy and election planning.