Germany’s Scholz Requests Confidence Vote, Eyes Early 2025 Election

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is expected to request a vote of confidence in his government on Dec. 16, a move that could set the stage for a new parliamentary election as soon as February.
German media outlets reported that the decision to accelerate the timeline for the vote is a response to the collapse of Scholz’s three-party coalition government last week.
Originally, Scholz had planned to seek the confidence vote on Jan. 15, with a potential election in March.
However, the new vote set to take place before Christmas in the German national Parliament, the Bundestag, marks an earlier than expected shift in his strategy.
The goal is to reach a compromise between Scholz’s Social Democrats and the main opposition party, the center-right Christian Democrats.
Speaking to the public broadcaster ARD, Scholz acknowledged that an early vote was “no problem” for him and expressed his commitment to honoring any agreement made between his party and the Christian Democrats.
The decision to bring forward the vote was partly driven by political pressures, following the breakup of his coalition with the pro-business Free Democrats.
Scholz’s government is now left with the Greens as its only remaining coalition partner.
The exact date for the upcoming election will be determined by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who has the constitutional authority to dissolve the Bundestag.
According to reports, the election could take place on either Feb. 16 or Feb. 23, depending on Steinmeier’s decision.
In the wake of the coalition collapse, Scholz announced that he would lead a minority government, relying on the Greens for support.
However, with a slim parliamentary majority, Scholz has also turned to the Christian Democrats, led by Friedrich Merz, to help pass key pieces of legislation.
One of the most urgent issues facing the government is a projected gap in the 2025 federal budget, which Scholz hopes to address with bipartisan cooperation.
Merz, however, has strongly criticized Scholz’s initial plan to wait until January for the confidence vote, arguing that the uncertainty surrounding the government needed to be resolved sooner.
If the government fails to secure the confidence of the Bundestag, Steinmeier could dissolve the chamber within 21 days, leading to a new election shortly after.
Scholz’s political future now hinges on the outcome of the Dec. 16 vote, with the potential for a dramatic shift in Germany’s political landscape depending on the result.
This article contains additional reporting from The Associated Press