Nov. 13, 2024, 8:57 p.m.
(German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier Photo: EPA/UPG)
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has announced the date of early parliamentary elections. They may take place on February 23, 2025.
This was reported by LB.ua with reference to the Office of the President of Germany.
It is noted that Steinmeier received the leaders of the parliamentary factions from the coalition - Rolf Mützenich (SPD), Britta Hasselmann and Katharina Droege (Greens). Steinmeier also received the leader of the opposition CDU, Friedrich Merz. After the meeting, the German president welcomed the fact that parliamentary factions had agreed on a vote of confidence in the government in the Bundestag on December 16.
In addition, Steinmeier made it clear that if the parliament expresses no confidence in the federal chancellor, the president will quickly decide to dissolve the German parliament. New elections could be held as early as February 23 next year.
Analysts say that these elections - whether they are held in February, spring or fall - will almost certainly end Scholz's rule and bring a new chancellor from the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to power. The latter is not a bad option for Ukraine, as the CDU's chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz has systematically criticized Olaf Scholz 's "traffic light coalition" for not supporting Kyiv enough in the war, and recently proposed to give Vladimir Putin an ultimatum with the prospect of eventually giving Ukraine the long-suffering Taurus missiles. He expressed his belief that diplomatic negotiations with the Russian leader are not worthwhile, as they only lead to new crimes by Russia. According to him, the so-called "peace mission" of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to Moscow, after which Russia shelled Ukraine's largest children's hospital,Okhmatdyt, was proof of this. Merz accused Scholz of being personally responsible for the fact that Ukraine has to fight Russia with one hand tied behind its back. He suggested that Scholz issue an ultimatum to Putin and discuss its content at the EU summit with his European counterparts. Friedrich Merz urged not to be afraid of Putin's nuclear threats, as fear, in his words, is "the mother of all cruelty."
"The Federal President has made it clear that if the Bundestag expresses no confidence in the Federal Chancellor, he will quickly decide to dissolve the parliament," the German President's office said in a statement.
The political crisis in Germany began on November 6, when Olaf Scholz decided to dismiss Finance Minister Christian Lindner.
The most unpopular coalition in German history had been headed for collapse for a long time. The main reason was that it was formed by parties with radically different fundamental policies. Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens are center-left parties that promote a strong role for the state with strong social policies and ambitious climate reforms. The Free Democrats, on the other hand, favor minimal government intervention and fiscal restraint, and most importantly, the observance of the debt brake in accordance with the German constitution.
But the situation escalated in November last year. The crisis was triggered by the Constitutional Court, which declared unconstitutional the government's plans to redirect 60 billion euros from mitigating the effects of the coronavirus pandemic to fighting climate change and modernizing the country. Since then, all coalition partners have tried to patch up the hole, satisfying their voters first and foremost: their proposals often made it impossible for the government to have a unified policy, and the disputes have led to widespread criticism from the opposition and made Scholz's government the most unpopular in the history of modern Germany.
After the collapse of the coalition, Scholz initially set January 15 as the date for a vote of confidence in his minority government. However, he recently stated that he was ready to hold the vote before Christmas.