German president dissolves parliament for Feb. 23 snap elections

German president dissolves parliament for Feb. 23 snap elections


Members of the Bundestag debate before passing a resolution on Nov. 30, 2022 in Berlin, Germany. 

Sean Gallup | Getty Images News | Getty Images

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Friday dissolved Germany’s lower house of parliament to pave the way for snap elections on Feb. 23 following the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-way coalition.

“Especially in difficult times, like now, stability requires a government capable of acting, and reliable majorities in parliament,” which was why early elections were the right way forward for Germany, Steinmeier said in Berlin.

After the elections, problem-solving must become the core business of politics again, added Steinmeier in a speech.

The president, whose post has been largely ceremonial in the post-war era, also called for the election campaign to be conducted fairly and transparently.

“External influence is a danger to democracy, whether it is covert, as was evidently the case recently in the Romanian elections, or open and blatant, as is currently being practiced particularly intensively on (social media) platform X,” he said.

Scholz, a Social Democrat who will head a caretaker government until a new one can be formed, lost a confidence vote in parliament earlier this month after the departure of Finance Minister Christian Lindner’s Free Democrats left his unwieldy governing coalition without a legislative majority.

The vote also kicked off election campaigning in earnest, with conservative challenger Friedrich Merz, who surveys suggest is likely to replace Scholz, asserting that the incumbent government had imposed excessive regulations and stifled growth.

The conservatives hold a comfortable lead of more than 10 points over the Social Democrats (SPD) in most polls. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is slightly ahead of the SPD, while the Greens, a coalition partner, are in fourth place.

The mainstream parties have refused to govern with the AfD, but its presence complicates the parliamentary arithmetic, making shaky coalitions more likely.



Source

Trump’s new travel ban set to take effect amid escalating tension over immigration enforcement
Politics

Trump’s new travel ban set to take effect amid escalating tension over immigration enforcement

FILE PHOTO: An international traveler arrives after U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order travel ban at Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. January 30, 2017. REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File Photo Brian Snyder | Reuters President Donald Trump’s new ban on travel to the U.S. by citizens from 12 mainly African and Middle Eastern countries is set to […]

Read More
Speaker Johnson hopes Musk and Trump can ‘reconcile’ their differences after public fallout
Politics

Speaker Johnson hopes Musk and Trump can ‘reconcile’ their differences after public fallout

US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Republican from Louisiana, speaks during a news conference after a House Republican conference meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on June 4, 2025. Saul Loeb | Afp | Getty Images House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that he hopes President Donald Trump and Elon Musk can “reconcile” […]

Read More
What to know about Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to L.A. protests
Politics

What to know about Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops to L.A. protests

President Donald Trump says he’s deploying 2,000 California National Guard troops to Los Angeles to respond to immigration protests, over the objections of California Gov. Gavin Newsom. It’s not the first time Trump has activated the National Guard to quell protests. In 2020, he asked governors of several states to send troops to Washington, D.C. […]

Read More