Germany’s Federal Assembly will vote on confidence in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government on Monday, German media reported.
The vote will take place after Scholz’s speech and a debate. The chancellor, who has asked for a vote of confidence in his government, is expected to lose at the end of the procedure.
According to German media, Scholz wants to lose because it would allow early elections to be held in Germany.
In the event that confidence is expressed in the current government and Scholz personally, the process of forming a coalition government will begin. However, this option is seen as unlikely.
On December 13, POLITICO reported that representatives of the Alternative for Germany party (AfD), who are opponents of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the German parliament, decided to support the head of the government in order to prevent an aggravation in relations with Russia.
In November, Friedrich Merz, a candidate for chancellor of Germany from the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU), criticised Scholz’s policies amid the collapse of the government coalition and accused the incumbent chancellor of splitting the country.
Amid the ongoing crisis in the “traffic light coalition,” Olaf Scholz announced a vote of confidence in the Bundestag in January 2025 and the appointment of new elections to be held on February 23, 2025.
Earlier, Scholz refused to become vice-chancellor in case of defeat in the elections.
The current candidates for chancellor are CDU leader Friedrich Merz, German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck of the Alliance 90/Green Party and Alice Weidel, chairwoman of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Polls show that the CDU/CSU bloc now has the most support in Germany. According to POLITICO, 32 per cent of respondents support them. After the bloc comes the AfD with 18 per cent, while Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) is gaining only 16 per cent and the Alliance 90/Greens 13 per cent.
Earlier, the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP) left the ruling coalition. Scholz has since said he wants to request a vote of confidence in his government from the Bundestag in January 2025 amid the problems Germany is experiencing. Merz has called for a vote of confidence in the government to be held sooner.
