Germany is heading to the polls on 23 February, following the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s governing coalition. The crisis erupted after Scholz, a Social Democrat, dismissed Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the Free Democrats, citing weeks of internal discord.
The February election date is still a proposal, requiring several procedural steps before finalization. According to the German press agency DPA, these steps are largely formalities. The next move involves Scholz presenting the government for a confidence vote on 16 December. If he loses, as expected, the election date will be formally proposed to President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who will then have 21 days to dissolve the Bundestag.
The political crisis deepened last Wednesday during a heated debate in the Bundestag over the 2025 budget, leading Scholz to fire Lindner, accusing him of “betraying my confidence” and prioritizing party interests over national welfare. Lindner countered by accusing Scholz of “leading Germany into a phase of uncertainty.” This upheaval struck Europe’s largest economy only hours after Donald Trump’s election victory in the United States, adding further uncertainty about the continent’s future economic and security landscape.
Scholz had initially proposed a no-confidence vote in January, with elections in mid-March, but the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) leader, Friedrich Merz, rejected this, calling it too slow. The DPA reported that party leaders have now agreed on the February date, with support from the Greens and Free Democrats, the coalition’s junior partners.
