Germany faces possible early elections as coalition crumbles
Contrary to earlier announcements, the German government may fall later this year. "If everyone agrees that I should call for a vote of confidence before Christmas, that's no problem for me," said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Sunday evening on the public TV program ARD.
8:11 AM EST, November 11, 2024
In an interview with ARD, Olaf Scholz also emphasized that he, as chancellor, formally submits the proposal for such a vote. However, he stated that if the chairman of the SPD parliamentary group, Rolf Muetzenich, and the opposition leader and CDU chairman, Friedrich Merz, reach an agreement on this matter, he would abide by it.
Scholz highlighted, "I will say it clearly, where parliament, the government, and the opposition agree, especially democratic parties - I will start from that and make it possible," as quoted by the portal tagesschau.de.
The chancellor assessed that "he is not clinging to his job."
Scholz talks about "technical preparation" for elections
Scholz stressed that the necessary democratic steps and technical preparations for voting should be considered in the context of new parliamentary elections. "None of us wants something like in Berlin, where we had to repeat the elections," he added.
It is worth recalling that in 2024, the Bundestag elections in Berlin, which took place in 2021, were partially repeated. In the original voting, there were many irregularities, including an insufficient number of ballots and polling stations temporarily closed.
Following the collapse of the SPD, Greens, and FDP coalition government this week, Chancellor Scholz announced that he would submit his government to a vote of confidence on January 15, 2025. He added that parliamentary elections could take place at the end of March.
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced on Thursday his readiness to dissolve the Bundestag and call new elections.
