Germany’s president dissolves parliament and calls early elections for February 23

President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Friday dissolved Germany’s lower house to pave the way for early elections on February 23 after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s tripartite coalition collapsed.

“Especially in difficult times like now, stability requires a government capable of acting and reliable majorities in parliament,” which is why early elections were the right way for Germany, Steinmeier said in Berlin.

After the election, problem solving must again become the core business of politics, Steinmeier added in a speech.

The president, whose position was largely ceremonial in the post-war era, also called for the election campaign to be conducted fairly and transparently.

“External influence is a danger to democracy, whether it is covert, as apparently happened recently in the Romanian elections, or open and blatant, as it is currently being exercised particularly intensively on the X platform (ie social media), he said.

Solz, a Social Democrat who will lead an interim government until a new one is formed, lost a confidence vote in parliament earlier this month after the departure of Finance Minister Christian Lindner’s Free Democrats left his unwieldy governing coalition without a legislative majority.

The vote also kicked off the election campaign in earnest, with conservative challenger Friedrich Merz, who polls say is likely to replace Scholz, arguing that the incumbent government had imposed excessive regulations and stifled growth.

The conservatives have a lead of more than 10 points over the Social Democrats (SPD) in most opinion polls.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is slightly ahead of the SPD, while the Greens, a coalition partner, are in fourth place.

The mainstream parties have refused to govern with the AfD, but its presence complicates parliamentary arithmetic, making unstable coalitions more likely.