Chancellor paves the way for new elections

Berlin (dpa) – The first formal step has been taken on the way to Bundestag elections: Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz has invoked Article 68 of the Basic Law requesting the President of the Bundestag, Bärbel Bas, to call a vote of confidence. The vote will take place in the Bundestag on Monday, 16 December. It will probably be a roll-call vote, so no parliamentarian will be able to speak anonymously in favour of Scholz or against him. In order to win the vote of confidence, Scholz would have to receive 367 out of the 733 votes – the absolute majority of all MPs, also known as the “chancellor’s majority”. Now that the FDP has left the coalition, leaving only the SPD and the Greens in government, this is practically impossible. Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will then schedule an election date. He is expected to choose 23 February – the date agreed on by the major government and opposition parties in preliminary talks.