German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier dissolved the country's lower house of parliament on Friday. Now Germany expects early federal elections to be held on February 23. This was reported by UNN with reference to Reuters.
The Bundestag announced a vote of no confidence in the government of Olaf Scholz earlier this month after Finance Minister Christian Lindner's departure from the Free Democrats left his government without a legislative majority.
The vote also kicked off the election campaign. German opposition leader and CDU/CSU chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz, who, according to polls, is most likely to replace Scholz, said that the current government has introduced excessive regulations and stifled growth.
In most polls, the Conservatives have a comfortable lead over the SPD, exceeding 10 points. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is slightly ahead of Scholz's party, and the Greens are in fourth place.
The mainstream parties have refused to cooperate with the AfD, but its presence complicates parliamentary arithmetic, making unwieldy coalitions more likely.
Addendum
Scholz stated that the main issues of the election would be investment in the future, modernization of industry, stability of pensions, and maintaining peace in Ukraine, while avoiding German involvement in the war. Although the country has become the largest arms supplier to Ukraine in Europe, Scholz opposed the transfer of long-range Taurus missiles, fearing an escalation of the conflict with Russia.
The chancellor's main opponent will be Friedrich Merz of the CDU/CSU opposition bloc, who has called for a focus on increasing the competitiveness of the German economy.
Confidence votes are rare in Germany: this was only the sixth time since World War II. The last time such a step was taken in 2005 by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, which led to Angela Merkel's victory in the snap election.