In Germany, elections are scheduled to be held on February 23rd following the collapse of the coalition government.
The country was plunged into crisis after Social Democratic Party Prime Minister Olaf Scholz sacked his finance minister and coalition partner Christian Lindner of the Free Democratic Party, following weeks of domestic tensions.
The February date is a suggestion and there are several steps to confirm it. German news agency dpa reported that these are mainly formalities.
The newspaper said Scholz’s next step is to put the current government to a vote of confidence on December 16th.
If he loses (as expected), the election date will be formally proposed to President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. He will then be given 21 days to dissolve Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag.
Tensions boiled over in Congress last Wednesday during a spat over the 2025 budget.
The prime minister fired Lindner, accusing him of “betraying my trust” and prioritizing the interests of his party over the interests of the country.
Lindner accused Scholz of “leading Germany into a phase of uncertainty.”
The turmoil plunged Europe’s biggest economy into political turmoil, hours after Donald Trump’s US election victory cast uncertainty over the continent’s economic and security future.
Scholz’s initial plan to hold a vote of no confidence in January and a general election in mid-March was rejected as premature by Friedrich Merz, leader of the opposition Christian Democratic Union.
DPA reported that leaders of both major political parties had agreed on a February date, with junior coalition partners the Greens and Liberal Democrats backing the plan.
