Investing.com — German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has dissolved the national parliament and called early elections for February 23. The move officially backs a plan proposed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who dissolved his ruling coalition last month.
Scholz, a Social Democrat, broke his three-party alliance with the Greens and the Free Democrats after sacking FDP Finance Minister Christian Lindner over disagreements over government borrowing. The unexpected action left Scholz without a majority in the Bundestag, Germany’s lower house, and set the stage for national elections seven months before the end of his four-year term.
With less than two months until the election, the main opposition conservatives, led by Friedrich Merz, are leading the polls significantly. Scholz’s SPD party is currently in third place, behind the far-right Alternative for Germany party, while the Greens are in fourth place.
The Greens currently hold around 13% of the vote, while Lindner’s FDP is in danger of not reaching the 5% threshold needed to enter parliament, currently at 4%.
Lars Klingbeil, co-leader of the SPD, expressed his belief that the party can begin to close the gap with the conservatives in January and that it still has the potential to become the strongest party again. During the previous elections in 2021, the SPD managed to secure almost 26% of the vote in the final weeks of the campaign, surpassing the CDU/CSU which received 24%.
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