German President dissolves Parliament to pave way for Feb 23 snap elections

BERLIN - German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Dec 27 dissolved the country’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, Mr Steinmeier said in Berlin.

After the elections, problem-solving must become the core business of politics again, he added 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.

Mr Scholz, a Social Democrat who will head a caretaker government until a new one can be formed, lost a confidence vote in Parliament earlier in December after the departure of Finance Minister Christian Lindner’s Free Democrats left his government 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 Mr Scholz, claiming that the incumbent government had imposed excessive regulations and stifled growth.

The conservatives have a comfortable lead of more than 10 points over the Social Democratic Party in most polls. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is slightly ahead of Mr Scholz’s party, while the Greens are in fourth place.

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