With major political division… Germany is heading towards an early election

Ahead of the expected government announcement by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) on ending the “traffic light” coalition, Wednesday, Green Party representatives have expressed their support for setting an early date for general elections.

In the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the head of the parliamentary group, Rolf Mützenich, expressed his readiness to support early elections under certain conditions, as he told the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.

Scholz had previously announced his plan to hold elections by the end of March, while the candidate of the Union (Christian Democratic Party) for chancellor, Friedrich Merz, called for setting the election date for January 19.

The date of the election depends on the timing of the confidence question, which Scholz intends to put to parliament after the end of cooperation with the Free Democratic Party.

If Scholz fails to win confidence, early elections will be held.

Although Scholz was initially reluctant to set an election date so soon, he later showed openness to it.

The SPD’s parliamentary group leader, Rolf Mützenich, linked support for this option to the need to pass some important projects of the current government, such as improving child benefits, the “Deutschland” ticket, easing the burden on industries and suppliers, and protecting the constitutional court.

Mützenich pointed out that agreeing on such an agenda might facilitate finding a suitable date for the elections, especially after the Chancellor’s readiness to sit at the negotiating table.