German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced today his decision to dissolve the German parliament (Bundestag) and set February 23 as the date for new general elections.
Dissolving parliament “is now the right way forward,” Steinmeier told reporters in Berlin.
“In difficult times like these, stability requires an effective government and a reliable majority in parliament,” he added.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz asked the Bundestag for a vote of confidence on December 16 after the coalition of the Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the Free Democrats (FDP) collapsed in November after only about three years. Scholz did not receive the majority for his proposal, as he had intended. He then asked Steinmeier to dissolve the Bundestag in accordance with Article 68 of the German Constitution.
According to that article, the president can, on the proposal of the chancellor, dissolve the Bundestag within 21 days if the latter loses confidence. Article 39 stipulates that new elections must then be held within 60 days.
Scholz’s vote of no confidence was only the sixth in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany. The Bundestag had previously been dissolved three times.
