BERLIN: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced that he will request a vote of confidence on December 16, which could lead to early parliamentary elections in February, as reported by Al Jazeera on Wednesday. Scholz made the announcement during a speech in parliament on Wednesday, a week after his three-party coalition government collapsed.
“The date at the end of February has now been set and I am very grateful for that”, Scholz said, expressing his intention to pass key legislation before that, including financial support for children from low-income families and constitutional amendments to strengthen the independence of the country’s highest court from political interference, Al Jazeera reported.
Scholz plans to formally submit his request for a vote of confidence on December 11, allowing the Bundestag to vote on it five days later, on December 16. Initially, Scholz had hoped to schedule early elections by late March, ahead of the regular September 2025 vote.
However, the centre-right Christian opposition pushed for a faster timeline, leading to an agreement among party leaders on the two dates in December for the vote of confidence and February 23 for the elections, Al Jazeera reported.
During the session, both Scholz and opposition leader Friedrich Merz, head of the Christian Democrats, began to shift into campaign mode, even though full-scale campaigning typically begins only six weeks before an election in Germany.
Merz, speaking after Scholz, criticised the chancellor, claiming that the collapse of the coalition was a positive development for Germany. “There is a great sense of relief in our country. For a week now, the so-called progressive coalition… has been history. And that is continuing good news for Germany,” Merz stated, drawing applause from his party members.
“You are dividing the country, Mr Chancellor. You are the one responsible for these controversies and for this division in Germany…You simply cannot govern a country like this”, Merz added. He accused Scholz of delaying the call for the vote of confidence rather than calling for it immediately. (ANI)