Steinmeier dissolves parliament, calls snap election in Germany for February 23

AUTHOR:M.J. GDNUS

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier dissolved the country's lower house of parliament on February 23 to pave the way for snap elections after Chancellor Olaf Scholz's triple coalition collapsed.

"Especially in difficult times like now, stability requires a government capable of acting and a reliable majority in parliament," Steinmeier said in Berlin, explaining that snap elections were the right path for Germany.

After the elections, solving problems must once again become the core function of politics, Steinmeier added in his speech. The president, whose role has been largely ceremonial in the post-war era, also called for a fair and transparent election campaign.

"Foreign influence poses a danger to democracy, whether covert, as was clearly the case in the recent Romanian elections, or open and obvious, as is currently practiced, especially on (social network) platform X," he said.

Scholz, a Social Democrat who will lead a caretaker government until a new one is formed, lost a confidence vote in parliament earlier this month after the departure of Finance Minister Christian Lindner from the Free Democrats left his awkwardly formed coalition without a majority in the legislature.

The vote also set off a serious election campaign, in which conservative challenger Friedrich Merz, who is widely expected to replace Scholz, has argued that the current government has imposed too much regulation and stifled growth.

The conservatives have a solid lead of more than 10 points over the Social Democrats (SPD) in most polls. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is slightly ahead of the SPD, while the Greens, coalition partners, are in fourth place.