BERLIN – Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz He said on Wednesday that he would seek a vote of confidence on December 16, paving the way for early parliamentary elections in February. He announced his plans in a speech to parliament a week after taking office. Three-party coalition government collapses.

Germany has been governed since 2021 by a coalition led by Scholz’s left-leaning Social Democrats and including the smaller pro-business Free Democrats and the Greens.

It was an uneasy and fractious alliance, and last week Scholz Finance Minister Christian Lindner fired The Free Democrats took action late at night after disagreements over how to revive the contracting economy.

“A date has been set for the end of February and I am very grateful for that,” Scholz said. Scholz added that he will try to pass important laws, such as financial support for children of poor families or changes, through the parliament before this. It goes against the country’s constitution to make the highest court more resistant to possible political interference.

He said he would request a vote of confidence on December 11 so that the Bundestag could decide on this issue on December 16. The Chancellor initially wanted early elections to be held only by the end of March. It is regularly scheduled for September 2025.

But the center-right Christian opposition has pressed for parliamentary voting to be accelerated to speed up the next elections.

Finally, party leaders across the political spectrum agreed on two election dates on Wednesday. vote of confidence and new election On February 23.

Scholz and Friedrich Merz, head of the main opposition party in parliament, the Christian Democrats, went into campaign mode during his speech; but the heated part of the campaign usually begins about six weeks before elections in Germany.

“There is great relief in our country. For a week the so-called progressive coalition (…) is history. And this is continuing good news for Germany,” Merz said to applause from the Christian Democrats as he spoke after Scholz in parliament.

Four candidates are expected to make bids for the chancellorship before voters in February.

Scholz said he wanted to run for chancellor again, although his party has not yet announced its candidacy.

Merz, one of the Christian Democrats currently leading in the polls, officially nominated by his party in September.

Robert Habeck, the country’s current economy minister and vice-chancellor, according to the environmental Greens. Leading his party as chancellor candidate And

greens It is a small party that lost popularity in the last election and its support is now around 10%, meaning it is unlikely to become the country’s leader.

Far-right alternative to GermanyThe AfD said they will nominate current party leader Alice Weidel as a candidate next month.

The Christian Democrats in Merz have been polling around 30% or more for a year now. Scholz’s Social Democrats, currently the strongest ruling party, are in third place with around 16 percent of the vote, behind the AfD with around 19 percent.

The main campaign issues will likely be: bad economy of the country This led to the collapse of the government in the first place, more effective control of immigration, and – when it comes to foreign policy matters – Russia’s war against Ukraine and the next presidency of Donald Trump.