As expected, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost the vote of confidence in the German Bundestag on Monday. This paves the way for the dissolution of the Bundestag and new elections. There was a passionate discussion beforehand.
In the vote on the confidence vote, 207 MPs voted for Scholz, 394 against him and 116 abstained, as Bundestag chairman Bärbel Bas announced. As intended, the Chancellor clearly missed the necessary majority of at least 367 votes.
Bas concluded the historic meeting with the words: “We are at the end, including the traffic lights.” The vote was preceded by wild verbal fights. The outgoing Chancellor of the SPD used his speaking time to present his election manifesto and to shoot poison arrows in the direction of the FDP.
The debt brake is the sticking point
Scholz’s ‘traffic light coalition’ collapsed on November 6 in the dispute over the debt brake. Scholz fired Finance Minister and FDP leader Christian Lindner at the time. Lindner had opposed suspending the debt brake.
Scholz now accused the Free Democrats of “weeks of sabotage of the government”. “The denial of reality must end,” Scholz said. “Politics is not a game. “To join a government requires the necessary moral maturity,” the chancellor said, without specifically naming the FDP and its ministers.
There was criticism of the SPD politician’s actions. CDU leader Friedrich Merz worked on Scholz for several minutes. His attacks on the FDP were ‘disrespectful and pure insolence’, but fit into the general picture. “You embarrass Germany, the way you move in European politics is shameful.”
Lindner also took Scholz seriously: the traffic light coalition had failed to find common answers to Germany’s problems because the chancellor had “denied crises and refused to readjust.”
The FDP leader criticized Scholz’s economic policies. In particular, the proposed reduction in VAT on food is unnecessary. Such a move would cost billions of euros but would not secure or create jobs. “The Carnival Prince may hand out camels on Rose Monday, but the Federal Republic of Germany should not be governed like that.”
It is the turn of the Federal President
Scholz drove to Bellevue Palace immediately after the meeting and will propose to Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to dissolve the Bundestag. He then has 21 days to decide whether he agrees and will call new elections within 60 days.
Since there is broad agreement in the Bundestag on bringing forward the federal elections originally scheduled for September 28, 2025, Steinmeier’s approval is considered certain. The early federal elections are scheduled for February 23.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
