Germany’s Scholz demands vote of confidence for early elections

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for a vote of confidence in the German parliament next week to hold early elections, amid ongoing political unrest in EU neighbor France.

At a press conference in Berlin, Scholz announced that he would submit a request for a vote of confidence in Parliament next week, with the debate scheduled for December 16.

“I will explain my proposal in detail to the Bundestag (parliament) next Monday. If the members of parliament accept the path I have proposed, I will then ask President Frank Walter Steinmeier to dissolve the parliament,” Scholz said.

“If President Steinmeier supports my proposal, German voters will be able to elect a new Bundestag on February 23 – that is my goal,” he added.

Scholz’s three-way coalition government, made up of his social democratic party, the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats (FDP), collapsed last month, amid intense disputes over economic policy and plans government spending.

The German political system is designed to promote governmental stability, with specific constitutional guarantees against frequent changes in leadership. Under the constitution, early elections can be called if the chancellor loses a vote of confidence in parliament and the president dissolves parliament at the chancellor’s request.