German Chancellor lost no-confidence vote in parliament as expected

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was voted out of office by the German parliament on December 16, paving the way for early elections in February 2025 as he intended.

DW reported that the German parliament voted no confidence in the coalition government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz on December 16. 394 MPs voted against the government, 207 supported it, and 116 abstained. To continue to be trusted, Mr. Scholz needs a majority of votes (367 votes).

Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks in parliament on December 16.

In fact, this vote of no confidence was part of Mr. Scholz's calculations. Mr. Scholz's ruling coalition lost its majority in parliament after the prime minister dismissed the Finance Minister, leader of the liberal FDP Christian Lindner, due to budget conflicts. The development made it impossible for the minority government of the SDP and the Greens to pass major bills and a new budget, forcing Mr. Scholz to seek early elections. The crisis occurred in the context of the Western European country's stagnant economy .

According to the Financial Times , only the prime minister has the right to propose a vote of no confidence and it is the main mechanism to dissolve parliament and hold early elections.

This right has been used five times since 1949, three of which led to early elections. Of those three, Willy Brandt and Helmut Kohl won the subsequent elections and went on to become chancellor, while Gerhard Schroder lost to Angela Merkel in 2005.

Ahead of the vote, some AfD lawmakers said they would back Scholz to block the chancellor's plans for an early election. CDU candidate Friedrich Merz is leading the race and supports supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine, which the AfD opposes.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (right) meets President Frank-Walter Steinmeier after being voted out of office

However, polls show that Mr Merz is likely to have to join hands with Mr Scholz's SDP or the Greens to form a majority government.

As per procedure, the German Chancellor went to the presidential palace to ask President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to dissolve parliament and allow general elections. The upcoming election is scheduled for February 23, 2025.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/thu-tuong-duc-bi-quoc-hoi-bo-phieu-bat-tin-nhiem-nhu-mong-muon-185241216232330333.htm