“Parliamentary leaders of the country’s largest political parties reached an agreement on the schedule of elections”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
The parliamentary leaders of the country’s largest political parties – the Social Democratic Party (SPD) of Scholz and the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) – have reached an agreement on the schedule of the elections, sources from both sides told dpa.
Scholz is expected to bring a confidence vote to the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, on December 16 – if he fails the vote, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier can call an election within 60 days.
The agreement was reached after a week of controversy in Berlin after Scholz fired his Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the Free Democrats (VDP) on November 6, leading to the party’s exit from the tripartite coalition that came to power in 2021. The Free Democrats’ exit – the result of months of bitter negotiations over the government’s proposed 2025 budget – left the chancellor without a majority in the Bundestag and effectively unable to govern the country.
Scholz had originally proposed a confidence vote in January, but he faced huge pressure from opposition parties, who demanded an extension amid calls from business leaders for snap elections to provide leadership and direction for the country’s struggling economy.
The row erupted after Germany’s top election official, Federal Election Commissioner Ruth Brandt, warned that holding a snap election would be fraught with “unforeseen risks”, highlighting potential problems with ballot printing and the need to ensure voting security.
With the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), determined to consolidate their clear electoral lead, Brand has faced criticism for meddling in the democratic process. Scholz advocated postponing the election because he intends to pass a number of bills that are still going through parliament. Among them is a key reform aimed at strengthening the protection of the country’s Constitutional Court amid the rise of populist parties such as the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
The next elections in Germany were to be held in September 2025.