German Chancellor Scholz loses no confidence vote ahead of February elections

RFI

16 December 2024 at 3:26 am·1-min read

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks on the day of a confidence vote called by him to pave way for snap election, at lower house of parliament Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, 16 December, 2024.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday lost a confidence vote in parliament, paving the way for an early general election on 23 February. Scholz had been expected to lose the vote after his three-way coalition fell apart last month.

Out of the Bundestag deputies, 394 voted against Scholz while only 207 expressed confidence in the chancellor, with 116 abstentions.

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier can now move to dissolve the legislature and formally declare the agreed 23 February election date.

Friedrich Merz – the top candidate of the conservative CDU-CSU opposition alliance of ex-chancellor Angela Merkel – is well ahead in opinion polls.

The political contest comes at a time when Europe's top economy is struggling to revive its stuttering export-led industrial sector amid high energy prices and tough competition from China.

Berlin also faces major geopolitical challenges as it confronts Russia over the Ukraine war and as Donald Trump's looming return to the White House heightens uncertainty over NATO and trade ties.

Minority government

Merz, a former corporate lawyer, has persistently attacked the alliance of the chancellor's Social Democrats (SPD), the left-leaning Greens and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP).

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