Early Elections are Coming: German Chancellor Scholz Requests Confidence Vote for Himself and His Government

Today, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz officially asked the President of the German parliament, the Bundestag, to put a vote of confidence in the head of the government to the floor on 16 December. This is the first step towards early elections scheduled for February. The German parliament will have to vote on Scholz's motion, which is largely considered a formality as there are more opposition MPs than in Scholz's minority government.

The chancellor will then ask President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to dissolve the parliament. Germany will then have 60 days to hold new elections.

‘Our country needs a stable majority and a government that can act,’ Steinmeier said of the situation.

The collapse of the ruling coalition and the loss of Chancellor Scholz's majority in the Bundestag was triggered by the dismissal of Finance Minister Christian Lindner on 6 November. After a week of disputes in Berlin, a deal was reached. The leaders of the country's largest political parties - the Social Democrats (SPD) and the conservative Christian Bloc - agreed on a timetable for calling elections. 

Minority governments are frowned upon in Germany. In turn, the collapse of a coalition is a rather rare event compared to other European countries. It has happened only five times since the adoption of the current German constitution in 1949.