President Steinmeier is expected to call for early elections on February 23.

On Monday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost the vote of confidence he faced in the German Parliament after his government was reduced to a minority, prompting the European country to hold early general elections on February 23.

RELATED:

Nancy Pelosi Undergoes Hip Surgery in Germany After Injury in Luxembourg

The Bundestag President Bärbel Bas announced that 394 out of 717 legislators voted against Scholz, 116 abstained, and 207 supported his continuation. The lawmakers who reaffirmed their confidence in Scholz belong to the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the chancellor’s party.

Scholz also received support from one legislator of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), who argued that it would be worse for the leader of the opposition Christian Democrats, Friedrich Merz, to come to power. Merz currently leads in the polls. The Greens, who hold 117 seats, had announced they would abstain to ensure the chancellor lost the vote, thus enabling the dissolution of Parliament.

In November, Scholz had already signaled his intention to lose the vote of confidence when the coalition of Social Democrats, Greens, and Liberals that he led broke apart, with the Liberals being expelled and leaving the government in a minority.

In his speech prior to the vote, he framed the early elections as a referendum on the government’s economic policy at a time when Germany’s recession is deepening and global uncertainty is on the rise.

Scholz advocated for allowing greater public borrowing to finance massive infrastructure investments and to protect Germany against threats arising from the conflict in Ukraine. “We need to flip the switch, and we need to do it now,” he declared, emphasizing that citizens must decide whether to invest in the economy “with strength and determination or in a miserly and hesitant way.”

In response, Merz accused Scholz of failing to deliver on his promises to modernize the military following the Ukrainian war and of plunging Germany into an economic crisis. He argued that the solution cannot lie in burdening future generations with more debt.

After losing the vote, Scholz headed to Bellevue Palace to meet with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to request the dissolution of Parliament. Steinmeier has until January 6 to make a decision, during which he is expected to hold consultations with the leaders of the democratic parties—a formality before approving the request.

The Constitution stipulates that a maximum of two months may elapse between the dissolution of Parliament and the date of the new elections. However, the agreed-upon date, coordinated by the government and the opposition at Steinmeier’s request, is February 23.

teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE

EN ESTA NOTA: