German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier as Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost vote of confidence in the the country’s parliament. Till elections, Olaf will act as caretaker chancellor. Germany will go for voting in February 23, 2025.
Earlier this month, Finance Minister Christian Lindner’s Free Democrats party left the coalition thus resulting the fall of Scholz’s Social Democrat government.
In the 733-seat Bundestag, Scholz secured only 207 votes in his favour whereas 394 votes were casted against him while 116 got abstained. Scholz fell 367 votes short of majority on Dec 16, 2024.
On Friday Steinmeier at Berlin’s Bellevue Palace said the country needed a government that is capable of acting and has a majority in the parliament. Steinmeier further stated
Hatred and violence must have no place in this election campaign, nor denigration or intimidation … all this is poison for democracy,
The president also cautioned about the economic challenges and the impacts of ongoing wars between the Middle East Countries and Russia Ukraine.
Polls suggest comfortable lead of more than 10 points for conservatives party leader Friedrich Merz over Social Democrats party leader Olaf Scholz.
Germany faces a new threat from a 50-year old Taleb al-Abdulmohse,a psychiatrist from Saudi Arabia in the form of Islamophobic views which are gaining popularity.
The German constitution established after World War II does not permit the Bundestag to dissolve itself. Therefore, the German president has a 21-days period to decide on the dissolution of the parliament. Following the dissolution, fresh elections must occur within 60-days.