Scholz's question of trust: Fateful day for the government on Monday!

Scholz's question of trust: Fateful day for the government on Monday!

In a decisive step, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has requested a vote of confidence in the Bundestag to enable a new parliamentary election on February 23, 2024. His request, sent to Bundestag President Bärbel Bas, is a striking sign of political instability since the traffic light coalition made up of the SPD, Greens and FDP collapsed on November 6th with the dismissal of FDP Finance Minister Christian Lindner. Scholz explains in his letter: "Dear President of the Bundestag, in accordance with Article 68 of the Basic Law, I am submitting a request to express confidence in me. I intend to make a statement on this before the vote on Monday, December 16, 2024," as RND.de reported.

Scholz’s challenge in the Bundestag

The decisive vote will take place on Monday, December 16th, with Scholz set out his reasons for the vote of confidence in a speech. A roll-call vote is then carried out, which means that the votes of the MPs are published by name. In order to gain the trust of Parliament, Scholz needs an absolute majority of 367 votes out of a total of 733 MPs. Given the current distribution of seats, it is already clear that Scholz is unlikely to achieve a majority Small newspaper determines.

If Scholz fails, he will ask Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to dissolve the Bundestag. Steinmeier has already signaled that he sees February 23 as a realistic election date, meaning new elections would have to take place within 60 days of the dissolution. In the current situation, the Greens have not yet clearly defined their position on the vote, as they could possibly flirt with abstaining in order to avoid siding with the AfD, which could theoretically give Scholz a majority.