The German Chancellor says he is ready to hold a confidence vote in the government this year
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Sunday he was prepared to call a vote of confidence in his government this year to pave the way for early elections.
“For me it would be no problem” to ask for a confidence vote in Bundestag before Christmas if the main parties agree, Scholz, whose coalition government collapsed last week, Wednesday, said in a television interview, having previously spoken of a vote in mid-January and an election in late March.
“I want… this to happen quickly… Germany needs a new government with democratic legitimacy as soon as possible,” he added.
After the confidence vote, which Scholz is expected to lose because he no longer has a sufficient majority in the Bundestag, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will have 21 days to dissolve the Bundestag, and new elections will have to be held within 60 days.
Since the collapse of the government coalition initially formed by Scholz’s Social Democrats, the Greens and the liberals last Wednesday due to deep differences over economic policy, pressure has mounted on the chancellor to hold quick elections.
There have been growing calls for a swift parliamentary election, as Europe’s leading economy faces a host of challenges, teeters on the brink of recession and fears the consequences of Donald Trump’s return to the US presidency.
In an interview with the Stern newspaper, Friedrich Merz, the conservatives’ candidate for chancellor, called on Scholz to call a vote of confidence as early as Wednesday, the day the chancellor is due to deliver a government statement in the Bundestag.
Merz had also called for elections on January 19, with his party leading in the polls.
Merz has made an early confidence vote in the Bundestag a precondition for his party’s support for a series of important bills that the Scholz government wants to pass through parliament before the election.
Federal Elections Director Ruth Brand is scheduled to hold a virtual meeting with her regional colleagues on Monday to discuss the organization of the elections.
According to a poll published Sunday by the German weekly Bild am Sonntag and conducted by the INSA Institute, the conservatives remain the largest political force with 32% unchanged, followed by the far-right Alternative for Germany party with 19%.
The Social Democratic Party, led by Scholz, came in second with 15%.
As for the other two members of Scholz’s previous coalition, the Greens got 10% and the Liberals 4%, less than the 5% threshold needed to remain in the Bundestag.
