Germany: Scholz Is Open to Confidence Vote Before Christmas
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Nov. 2024. X/ @p_estienne
November 11, 2024 Hour: 8:17 am
‘I want a new mandate, and that it does not come from anyone other than the citizens,’ the Chancellor said.
On Sunday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that he is open to the possibility of calling a confidence vote in the Lower House (Bundestag) before Christmas.
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“If everyone agrees that I should call for a vote of confidence before Christmas, that’s no problem for me. I am not clinging to my office,” Scholz said in an interview with public broadcaster ARD.
After failing to reach consensus over the government’s budget plan, the Free Democratic Party (FDP) left Germany’s ruling coalition last week.
Following the government rift, Scholz announced his plans to seek a vote of confidence in the Bundestag next year, scheduled for Jan. 15, 2025. However, opposition leaders have been pressing for an earlier vote.
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Should Scholz fail the confidence vote, the president could dissolve the parliament within 21 days. Snap elections will have to take place within 60 days of the dissolution. The scheduled date for Germany’s next federal election was Sept. 28, 2025.
He has twice said that a vote of confidence could take place in December if parliamentary groups, especially his Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the largest opposition grouping, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CSU) reach an agreement.
“I also want things to move quickly. I want a new mandate, and that it does not come from anyone other than the citizens,” said Scholz, who was speaking in a long hour-long interview after he decided on Wednesday to dispense with his finance minister, the liberal Christian Lindner, which precipitated the current situation of political uncertainty in Germany.
teleSUR/ JF Source: Xinhua- EFE
