The German parliament accepted Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s invitation to withdraw confidence in him and his government on Monday. to clear the way for early elections on 2 February 23, necessitated by the collapse of his government.
Scholz’s three-party coalition collapsed last month after the pro-market Free Democrats resigned in succession over debt, leaving his Social Democrats and Greens without a majority in parliament. Just as Germany faces a deepening economic crisis.
Under rules designed to prevent the instability that enabled fascism in the 1930s, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier can dissolve parliament and hold elections only if the prime minister calls it. and lost the vote of confidence
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz arrives in the lower house of the Bundestag parliament. in berlin Germany on 1 December 16 Oct 2024 to hear whether Parliament will cancel the vote of confidence or not. (Lisa Johannsen)
Germany’s SCHOLZ rejects call for no-confidence vote as coalition collapses
The pre-vote debate also kicks off serious campaigning for the election. with party leaders exchanging angry opinions
Prime Minister and conservative challenger Friedrich Merz, who polls show is likely to replace him. They accused each other of being incompetent and lacking vision.
Scholz, who will head the interim government until a new government can be formed. Defends his record as a crisis leader dealing with the economic and security emergency arising from a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
If you get a second term He said he would invest heavily in Germany’s faltering infrastructure. Instead of cutting spending he said conservatives wanted.
“Myopia may save money in the short term. But mortgaging our future is unaffordable,” said Scholz, who served as finance minister for four years under a previous coalition with the Conservatives. Before becoming Prime Minister in 2021, said
German Chancellor SCHOLZ warns the next European Commission president against supporting far-right parties.
Prime Minister Olaf Germany’s Scholz delivered a speech on the eve of the confidence vote at the Bundestag lower house of parliament in Berlin. Germany on 1 December 16 Nov. 2024 (Axel Schmidt)
Merz told Scholz that his spending plan would be a burden on future generations. and accused him of failing to honor promises of new weapons after the Ukraine war began.
“Debt repayment comes at the cost of the new generation. Spending money – and you didn’t say the words Not even once have we had ‘competitiveness’,” said Merz.
It does not mention the constitutional spending ceiling. It’s a measure designed to ensure fiscal responsibility that many economists blame for Germany’s deteriorating infrastructure.
The Conservative Party has a clear lead in opinion polls.
The Conservative Party has a comfortable lead. This is despite the fact that the lead was more than 10 points less than the SPD in most elections. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is slightly ahead of Scholz’s party. Meanwhile the Greens are in fourth place.
Mainstream parties have refused to govern together with the AfD, but the group’s existence complicates the parliamentary math. This results in a more difficult coalition.
German leader Olaf Scholz loses confidence vote from German parliament Paving the way for early elections to replace the prime minister. (Lisi Neisner)
Scholz outlined a list of measures that could pass with opposition support before the election. This includes $11 billion in tax cuts and expanded child benefits, as former coalition partners have agreed.
Conservatives also hinted that they could support measures to better protect the Constitutional Court from the deception of future populist or anti-democratic governments. and to expand publicly subsidized travel tickets.
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Measures to ease the burden on unintended taxpayers could pass if regional governments agree. But Merz rejects green proposals to lower energy prices. He said he wanted a completely new energy policy.
Robert Habeck, Greens Prime Ministerial Candidate said it was a worrying sign for Germany’s democracy. Considering the growing possibilities in a fractured political landscape, which various parties must rule together again
“It is highly unlikely that the next government will make things easier,” Habeck said.
AfD leader Alice Weidel has called for the return of all Syrian refugees in Germany following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
