Germany's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has dissolved parliament and set the date for the country's snap elections as February 23.
He announced on Friday that he had done this at Chancellor Olaf Scholz's request, after the collapse of the Scholz's three-way coalition.
Why It Matters
Scholz now heads a minority government following the collapse of his contentious and unpopular three-party coalition on November 6, triggered by his dismissal of the finance minister over a dispute on reviving Germany's sluggish economy.
The confidence vote was necessary because Germany's post-World War II constitution prevents the Bundestag (parliament) from dissolving itself. Steinmeier has now honored this vote and went forward with the February 23 date that Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the country's main opposition party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), had already agreed on.
What To Know
Steinmeier's decision means Germans will head to the polls in February, rather than in September when the election was originally scheduled.
He said in his speech: "In difficult times like these, stability requires a government capable of taking action and reliable majorities in parliament."
"That is why I am convinced that new elections are the right way forward for the good of our country."
What People Are Saying
Steinmeier called for the election to be carried out fairly and transparently in a post on X, formerly Twitter. He wrote: "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."
Following the confidence vote, Scholz told officials that the election would show either "we, as a strong country, dare to invest strongly in our future; do we have confidence in ourselves and our country, or do we put our future on the line? Do we risk our cohesion and our prosperity by delaying long-overdue investments?"
Speaking about the next government, Eric Langenbacher, a Senior Fellow and Director of the Society, Culture & Politics Program at the American-German Institute previously told Newsweek, "Postwar Germany has always had coalition governments."
What Happens Next
Once parliament is dissolved, Germany's constitution requires that the election be held within 60 days.
In reality, the campaign has already begun amid a changing political landscape in Germany, in which the right-wing Alternative for Germany party is growing in popularity.
Scholz's government will continue to operate in a caretaker capacity until a new government is formed. This ensures that day-to-day administration and critical state functions remain unaffected.
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