German’s Scholz loses confidence vote, paving way for election

BERLIN: The German parliament accepted Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s invitation to withdraw its confidence in him and his government on Monday, clearing the way for the February 23 early election necessitated by the collapse of his government.

Scholz’s three-party coalition fell apart last month after the pro-market Free Democrats quit in a row over debt, leaving his Social Democrats and the Greens without a parliamentary majority just when Germany faces adeepening economic crisis.

Under rules designed to prevent the instability that facilitated the rise of fascism in the 1930s, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier can only dissolve parliament and call elections if the chancellor calls, and loses, a confidence vote.

Only 207 of the parliament’s 733 expressed confidence, while 394 withheld it.

“The motion has passed,” said parliament president Baerbel Bas.

Earlier, Chancellor Olaf Scholz had asked Germany’s parliament on Monday to declare it has no confidence in him.

Addressing parliament, Scholz framed the snap election as an opportunity for voters to set a new course for Germany, casting it as a choice between a future of higher investment and one of cuts that he said the conservatives were promising.

Scholz, who served as finance minister for four years in a previous coalition with the conservatives before becoming head of a new government in 2021, accused other parties of wanting to block the investments Germany needed.