Following the traffic-light coalition's collapse, Germany's Federal Returning Officer has confirmed when Chancellor Olaf Scholz will face his no-confidence vote and when voters will head to the polls for a snap election.

Scholz to face no-confidence vote on December 16

Germany's Federal Returning Officer has announced that Chancellor Olaf Scholz of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) will face a no-confidence vote on December 16, 2024.

After Scholz fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the Free Democrats Party (FDP), FDP members followed Lindner out of the Bundestag doors and the SPD-FDP-Green coalition collapsed on November 5.

Left to lead a minority coalition with the Greens, Scholz initially set January 15, 2025, as the prospective date for a no-confidence vote, with March 9 floated as a possible election date. Criticism came almost immediately from the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), with the opposition leader Friedrich Merz saying January 15 was too late.

Scholz accepted the criticism and told ARD host Caren Miosga that he would be happy to hold a no-confidence vote before Christmas. “I am not glued to my post,” the incumbent chancellor said.

Germany headed for snap election on February 23, 2025

11 days after Scholz faces his no-confidence vote, which he is widely expected to lose, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will dissolve parliament on December 27. Once parliament has been dissolved an election must be held within 60 days.

February 23 has now been selected as the date Germans will return to the polls. At an Election Review Committee Meeting on November 12, Federal Returning Officer Ruth Brand said that she had no objections to the date and deemed it “legally feasible”.

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