Lean – aware
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced on Friday the dissolution of Parliament and the holding of early elections on February 23.
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This came in response to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s request to dissolve the Federal Parliament (Bundestag), paving the way for early elections.
Schulz lost the vote of confidence in the Bundestag on December 16, in a move that had expected results, after the fall of the ruling coalition, which included the Social Democratic Party, the Green Party, and the Free Democratic Party, last November . The ruling coalition was formed about three years ago.
After losing the vote of confidence, the German Chancellor asked the head of state to dissolve Parliament in accordance with Article 68 of the German Constitution.
Steinmeier then consulted with the leaders of the parliamentary blocs and parties represented in the Parliament to see if it was possible to create a stable political majority for the current government, but no solution was found in that effort.
Article 68 of the German Constitution states that the Federal President may dissolve Parliament based on the Chancellor’s proposal if the latter loses a vote of confidence, within 21 days of the proposal being presented Article 39 also states that early elections must be held within of 60 days from the dissolution of Parliament.
It is worth noting that the vote of confidence proposed by Schulz was the sixth such in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany, three of which resulted in the dissolution of the Parliament.