German Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a vote of confidence in parliament on Monday (16/12), paving the way for early elections in February 2025.
The result of the vote of confidence: 207 yes, 394 no, 116 abstentions.
The German President is expected to decide soon on the dissolution of parliament within 21 days, as stipulated by the constitutional deadlines. “The earliest possible date is December 25th,” that is, Christmas, while “December 27th is more realistically expected.”
Scholz’s three-party coalition collapsed last month after the pro-debt market Free Democrats resigned, leaving the Social Democrats and Greens without a parliamentary majority just as Germany faces a deepening economic crisis.
Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SDP) is heavily behind in the polls, while the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) under Friedrich Merz appears to be on track to return to government.
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