German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier announced on Friday the dissolution of the country’s lower house of parliament, setting the stage for snap elections on February 23. This decision follows the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-way coalition government.
The crisis escalated after Scholz lost a confidence vote in parliament earlier this month, triggered by the departure of Finance Minister Christian Lindner’s Free Democrats, which left the government without a legislative majority.
With the dissolution of parliament, election campaigning is now in full swing. Conservative challenger Friedrich Merz, who is seen as a likely successor to Scholz, criticized the incumbent government for imposing excessive regulations that he claims have stifled economic growth.
Current polling indicates that the conservatives hold a comfortable lead of more than 10 points over Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD). The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is slightly ahead of the SPD, while the Greens are positioned in fourth place.
Mainstream parties have consistently refused to form coalitions with the AfD, complicating the parliamentary landscape and increasing the likelihood of unwieldy coalitions in the future.
