As expected, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost the vote of confidence in the German Bundestag. 394 MPs did not express their confidence in Scholz on Monday. 116 deputies abstained, while 207 voted for the chancellor. Scholz has proposed the dissolution of the parliament to the Federal President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Steinmeier has 21 days to decide whether he agrees and thus call for new parliamentary elections within 60 days. With broad agreement in the Bundestag that federal elections originally scheduled for September 28, 2025 should be brought forward, Steinmeier's approval is considered certain.
He has already signaled that he agrees with the target date of February 23. This was the sixth time in the history of the Federal Republic that the Bundestag voted on a vote of confidence. Scholz will remain in office as acting chancellor until a new government is sworn in, writes A2.
In his speech to the Bundestag on Monday, Scholz criticized that there had been "weeks of sabotage of his government by the Free Democrats". "To join a government requires the necessary moral maturity." Christian Lindner, Scholz's ally in the government, criticized Scholz's economic policy.
The proposed reduction of VAT on food is unnecessary. Such a step would cost billions of euros, but would not provide or create any jobs and the head of the FDP. In his response, the main opposition candidate for Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, called Scholz's attack on Lindner "complete shamelessness". The opposition leader accused Scholz of plunging the country into one of the biggest economic crises in post-war history and of failing at the EU level. "You are embarrassing Germany," he said. It is a "shame for others" how the Chancellor moves in the European Union.
In the coming days, Steinmeier will hold talks with all parliamentary groups in the Bundestag, in which a total of eight parties are represented. The conservatives have a comfortable, if narrow, lead of more than 10 points over the SPD in most polls. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is just ahead of Scholz's party, while the Greens are in fourth place. (A2 Televizion)
A2 CNN Livestream
MUND TE LEXONI GJITHASHTU
