German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for a vote of confidence in parliament next week, officially pushing Germany towards early elections. According to Scholz’s office, he has requested parliament to hold the confidence vote on Monday (December 16) with the aim of holding parliamentary elections on February 23, seven months earlier than originally planned.
In early November, the country’s three-party governing coalition collapsed amid disagreements on how to revitalize Germany’s stagnant economy. Reports from the Associated Press suggest that Scholz is expected to fail in Monday’s vote. His center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) leads with 207 seats in the federal parliament, while their only remaining coalition partner, the Greens, have 117 seats, leaving their government short of a majority in the 733-seat chamber.
Since Germany’s post-World War II constitution does not allow parliament to dissolve itself, a vote of confidence is required. If Scholz fails in the vote, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will decide whether to dissolve the federal parliament. The president has 21 days to make a decision, and if the parliament is dissolved, elections must be held within 60 days.