Politics Germany plans early federal elections in February

The leaders of the major parties in Germany have agreed on February 23 as the date for early elections. This decision follows the break-up of the traffic light coalition.

The leading representatives of the Christian Democrats and Social Democrats have agreed on February 23 as the date for an early general election. This information was confirmed by the Deutsche Presse-Agentur from both camps. The Greens have also agreed to this proposal.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the SPD is planning to call a vote of confidence in the Bundestag on December 16. However, the final determination of the election date is the responsibility of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Originally, Scholz had intended to call a vote of confidence on January 15 in order to allow for a new election at the end of March. However, due to public pressure, he showed himself willing to compromise on Sunday. "If everyone agrees that I should call the vote of confidence before Christmas, that's no problem for me," the Chancellor explained on the ARD program "Caren Miosga". Should there be an agreement between the parliamentary group leaders of the SPD and the CDU/CSU, Rolf Mützenich and Friedrich Merz, he would respect this.

CDU/CSU candidate for chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday that he would seek an early general election in February following the failure of the "traffic light" government. At a meeting of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group committee, Merz named February 16 or 23 as suitable dates, according to sources in Berlin. The CDU/CSU had originally proposed January 19 as the election date. Talks between Merz and Mützenich took place on Monday and Tuesday.

The previous "traffic light" coalition of SPD, FDP and Greens broke up last week after Chancellor Scholz dismissed Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the FDP in a dispute over the budget. In Germany, the Bundestag cannot dissolve itself; only the Federal President can do so after losing a vote of confidence.

Another option would be a constructive vote of no confidence, in which the Bundestag could directly elect a new chancellor. However, this would require the votes of the right-wing populist AfD, with which no other party wants to cooperate.

SDA