German Olaf Schulz loses the vote of confidence, as he requested, leading to early elections

The German parliament accepted Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s call for no confidence in him and his government on Monday, paving the way for early elections scheduled for February 23 necessitated by the collapse of his government.

Schulz’s three-party coalition collapsed last month after the pro-market Free Democrats resigned in a row over debt, leaving the Social Democrats and Greens without a parliamentary majority as Germany faces a deep economic crisis.

Under rules designed to prevent the instability that facilitated the rise of fascism in the 1930s, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier can dissolve parliament and call elections only if the chancellor calls and loses a vote of confidence.

Only 207 of the 733 members of Parliament expressed their confidence, while 394 abstained.

“The proposal has been approved,” Speaker Purple Bass said.

Merz attacks Schulz’s record

The chancellor and his conservative rival, Friedrich Merz, clashed angrily in a debate before the vote, accusing each other of incompetence and lack of vision.

Schulz, of the Social Democrats, defended his record as a crisis leader who dealt with the economic and security emergency caused by Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Upon assuming a second term, he said he would invest heavily in Germany’s crumbling infrastructure and not make the spending cuts he said conservatives wanted.

“Myopia may save money in the short term, but the mortgage on our future is unsustainable,” said Schulz, who served for four years as finance minister under a previous coalition with the conservatives before becoming chancellor in 2021.

Merz, from Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party, told Schulz that the spending plans would burden future generations and accused him of failing to fulfill promises to rearmament after the start of the Ukrainian war.

“Going into debt at the expense of the younger generation, spending money — and the word ‘competitiveness’ was not said once,” Mears said.

Neither leader mentioned Germany’s constitutional spending cap, a measure intended to ensure fiscal responsibility but which many economists blame for the deteriorating state of Germany’s infrastructure.

After Schulz loses Monday’s vote, he could ask President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who has already supported his timetable, to dissolve parliament. Schulz will remain in the position of interim chancellor until a new government is formed after the elections scheduled for February 23.

The far-right Alternative for Germany party

The CDU enjoys a comfortable, if narrow, lead of more than 10 points over the Social Democrats in most opinion polls. The far-right Alternative for Germany party is slightly ahead of Schulz’s party, while the Green Party ranks fourth.

The main parties have refused to govern with the AfD, but its presence complicates parliamentary calculations, raising the possibility of unwieldy three-way coalitions like Schulz’s.

Meanwhile, Schulz outlined a list of measures that could be passed with opposition support before the election, including 11 billion euros (16.45 billion Canadian dollars) in tax cuts and increased child benefits already agreed upon by former coalition partners.

Measures to address the financial downturn appear less certain, while Merz said he would not support a green proposal to cut energy prices, saying he wanted a completely new energy policy.

Robert Habeck, the Green Party’s candidate for chancellor, said the situation was a worrying signal for German democracy, in light of the growing possibility, in a divided political landscape, that very different parties will be forced to work together in government.

“It is unlikely to be easier for the next government,” Habeck said. “It is unlikely that the Conservatives, the Social Democrats or the Greens will obtain an absolute majority.”

The Conservatives have hinted that they may support measures to better protect the Constitutional Court from future populist or anti-democratic government machinations and an extension of the popular backed transport ticket.

The leader of the Alternative for Germany party, Alice Weidel, called for the return of all Syrian refugees in Germany after the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government.