Germany to Hold Early General Election on February 23 Next Year... Advanced by 7 Months

Opposition Party Proposes Compromise on 'January General Election'

Reuters Yonhap News

The next federal election for the German Bundestag, originally scheduled for September 28 next year, is expected to be held seven months earlier on February 23. With the election date significantly moved up, concerns are rising about political instability in Germany before and after the election.

Local media outlet S?ddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) reported on the 12th (local time) that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz plans to put his confidence to a parliamentary vote next month in order to hold an early election on February 23 next year. The opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which had been advocating for a January election, reportedly agreed to Scholz’s compromise negotiation.

Earlier, on the 6th, Chancellor Scholz dismissed Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the Free Democratic Party (FDP), the minority partner in the coalition government, and announced plans to hold a confidence vote on January 15 next year and then hold the election at the end of March. However, when the CDU insisted on a January election, Scholz proposed holding the election in February as a compromise. This is analyzed as a decision to avoid greater political turmoil, since holding a January election would require an immediate confidence vote for the Chancellor.

In Germany, if the Chancellor fails to secure a majority in a parliamentary confidence vote and is thus dismissed, the President can dissolve the Bundestag within 21 days upon the Chancellor’s recommendation. Once dissolved, a federal election must be held within 60 days.