Germany‘s Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost the confidence vote on Monday, December 16 in a fresh blow to the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Of the 717 votes that were cast, a whopping 394 voted against supporting the Scholz government, while 207 gave their confidence. The remaining 116 abstained. The vote is now paving the way for a snap election, that will be held on February 23.
Scholz has now formally asked President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to dissolve parliament, known as the Bundestag, giving him three weeks to grant the request – which it’s believed he is certain to do.
This is mere months after the collapse of Scholz’s three-party coalition government in which he was forced to lead a minority administration and rely on his opposition to pass new laws.
He had hoped the confidence vote would turn his luck around, but he is now faced with the possibility that these are his last few months in power.
Scholz said the vote would “determine the political course of our country” as Germany battles a contracting economy and fracturing political landscape.
He said: [The election will determine if] we, as a strong country, dare to invest strongly in our future; do we have confidence in ourselves and our country, or do we put our future on the line?”
“Do we risk our cohesion and our prosperity by delaying long-overdue investments?”
Ahead of the snap election next year, opinion polls show the SDP trailing behind as the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) take the lead under the helm of Friedrich Merz.
The chancellor has called for “massive” investment in defence, whereas Merz has promised tax cuts and reduced spending to ease the country’s debt that he said is burdening the younger generations.
Merz welcomed the result of the confidence vote, saying it allowed the German people to see “what the differences are between the parties”. He told Scholz: “You’re leaving the country in one of its biggest economic crises in postwar history.”
Britta Haßelmann, co-leader of the Greens, also celebrated the chance for a fresh start after Germany went through a “damaging” period.