The governing Social Democrats (SPD) and the opposition centre-right CDU/CSU alliance have agreed to hold the German parliamentary elections on February 23rd, according to media reports.
The SPD’s coalition partner, the Greens, as well as the liberal FDP, whose recent departure from the government made it necessary for snap elections to be held, also support the date.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz is expected to hold a vote of confidence on December 16th, which he is widely expected to lose as his government does not command a majority in the Bundestag. The parliament then has to be dissolved within 21 days, and the country’s president has to call a snap election within 60 days of that.
A vote on February 23rd would mean that Germany will go to the polls seven months earlier than scheduled.
The CDU/CSU alliance and the right-wing AfD had been urging Scholz to hold a vote of confidence as soon as possible so that elections could take place in the middle of January. They warned that the country can not afford to go without a stable government for so long during a time of economic hardship and geopolitical conflicts. The parties had accused Scholz of delaying tactics to stay in power for as long as possible.
It is no wonder that the chancellor was biding his time: his SPD party is polling in third place at 15%, which is an 11-point drop compared to their election result three years ago. The Greens are also set to dip by 5 points to 10%, while the FDP could drop out of the parliament altogether, as it only enjoys the support of 4% of the electorate.
The mismanagement of the economy and the cost-of-living crisis, as well as the incompetent handling of the migration crisis, has frightened off many voters, who have flocked to the CDU/CSU and the AfD party. The former is polling strongly at 32%, the latter is on course to achieve its best-ever election result with 19%.
The left-liberal government collapsed last week following Scholz’s dismissal of his finance minister, Christian Lindner, the head of the FDP, the smallest coalition partner. The breakdown of the government was caused by major disagreements about next year’s budget, but the FDP had long been wary of remaining in the cabinet because its stance on fiscal conservatism and its rejection of pro-migration and radical ‘Green’ climate policies had been ignored by its partners.
