PREVIEW

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a critical confidence vote in parliament, paving the way for early elections on 23 February, Sky News reports. Of the 717 MPs who voted in the Bundestag, only 207 supported Scholz, while 394 opposed him, and 116 abstained – far short of the 367 majority needed. Scholz, leader of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), had been governing a three-party coalition that collapsed last month after he sacked Finance Minister Christian Lindner. The dismissal followed weeks of disputes over how to revive Germany’s stagnant economy, prompting Lindner’s Free Democrats (FDP) to quit the coalition. With the FDP gone, the remaining SPD-Greens alliance no longer held a majority, forcing Scholz to call the confidence vote to trigger early elections. Germany’s constitution doesn’t allow parliament to dissolve itself, so losing the confidence vote enables President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to formally dissolve the Bundestag within three weeks. Once dissolved, the election must be held within 60 days, with the new date set seven months earlier than initially planned. Centre-right CDU leader Friedrich Merz, Scholz’s main challenger, accused him of leaving Germany in “one of its biggest economic crises in postwar history” and called for economic competitiveness. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), polling strongly in some regions, has nominated Alice Weidel as its chancellor candidate but remains isolated as mainstream parties refuse to collaborate. Polls currently show the SPD trailing behind Merz’s CDU, while Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck of the Greens also bids for the top job amid declining support for his party.
Instructions: THIS VIDEO MUST NOT BE EDITED FOR LENGTH TO COMBINE WITH OTHER CONTENT