Germany is going to hold new elections on February 23, eleven weeks after the collapse of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's ruling coalition, and sources said on Tuesday that he may ask the Bundestag to vote for his resignation on December 16, UNN reports, citing Reuters and Handelsblatt.
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"The date is a compromise between the conservative opposition, which wanted to hold the vote in January for fear of leaving Germany without a ruler at a time of economic and diplomatic crisis, and Scholz, who wanted to hold the election in mid-March to give the government and parties more time to prepare," Reuters writes.
The leaders of the Union and SPD parliamentary groups, Friedrich Merz (CDU) and Rolf Mützenich, have agreed on a proposal for early federal elections on February 23, the German newspaper Handelsblatt reports, citing interlocutors from both sides.
Mützenich reportedly discussed the appointment this Tuesday with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and Merz spoke with the head of state by phone. The date, as indicated, was also agreed with the Greens. As Handelsblatt has learned, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is expected to address the Bundestag on December 16 with a request for a vote of confidence. This is expected to be finalized in the afternoon.
Scholz had originally wanted to ask for a vote of confidence on January 15 in order to hold new elections in late March. After public pressure, he was willing to compromise on Sunday. "It is not a problem for me at all that I am asking for a confidence vote before Christmas, as long as everyone sees it that way," the chancellor said on ARD. If an agreement is reached between the leaders of the SPD and CDU/CSU parliamentary groups, he said, he would take it into account.
Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz made it clear on Monday that after the failure of the traffic light government, he now wants early federal elections in February. At a meeting of the CDU/CSU faction's executive committee, the Union parliamentary group and the CDU party leader named February 16 or 23 as a good date, Handelsblatt has learned from participants. The Union had originally wanted January 19 as the election date.
Once a new election date is agreed upon, there could also be movement on important legislative proposals that have yet to be debated and passed in the Bundestag. However, the leadership of the Union parliamentary group has made it clear that they only want to discuss a few projects in the Bundestag before the vote of confidence in the chancellor of the red-green minority government.
He expects that this week in particular, the Bundestag will consider the supplementary budget for 2024, but will not make a decision on it, but will refer it back to the budget committee, said Torsten Fry (CDU/CSU), parliamentary managing director of the CDU/CSU members of the Bundestag.
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