On 16 December 2024, Scholz called a vote of confidence in the ruling government, which was lost.[2] As a result, an early 2025 federal election is to be held, with the parties having agreed on 23February 2025 as the date.[3] The 23 February date for the election was confirmed by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on 27 December 2024.[4]
The 2021 German federal election resulted in the Social Democratic Party (SPD) emerging as the strongest party in the Bundestag, with 25.71% of the vote (206 seats out of 736). The SPD reached an agreement to form a ruling coalition with The Greens (118 seats) and the FDP (91 seats), with SPD leader Olaf Scholz as federal chancellor. The resulting Scholz cabinet was appointed in December 2021. This marked the first time the governing coalition in the Bundestag was a traffic light coalition (Ampelkoalition), named after the colours associated with the three parties: red (SPD), yellow (FDP) and green (Greens).
With SPD and The Greens being considered centre-left and FDP economically liberal, the ideological differences between the three parties led to challenges in the newly formed government from the start.[5][6] This showed itself in disagreements in areas such as budget planning, environmentalism or social services, often resulting in gridlocks.[6] Additionally, the country entered an economic crisis while under leadership of the traffic light coalition, leading to falling approval ratings.[6]
In November 2023, Germany's Federal Constitutional Court(Bundesverfassungsgericht) declared parts of the government's budget policy unconstitutional. Scholz's cabinet had reallocated unspent debt proceeds–originally designated to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic–to its climate action budget. The court ruling left the budget €60billion short.[6] The government attempted to cover the resulting shortfall through re-allocating already planned funds, but this resulted in the 2023–2024 German farmers' protests and further decreased the public perception of the already unpopular government.[6][7][8]
In September 2024, three state elections in eastern Germany (Thuringia [1 September], Saxony [1 September] and Brandenburg [22 September]) yielded disastrous results for the parties in the federal traffic light coalition. In Thuringia, the SPD received its worst result in any post-war state election, although it held its vote in Saxony and increased its vote in Brandenburg. The Greens and FDP performed even worse, losing all their seats in Thuringia and Brandenburg and losing seats in Saxony. In all three states, far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and left-populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) gained large numbers of voters.[9][10] The bad state election results for the traffic light coalition parties were seen by many as reflecting dissatisfaction with their performance at the federal level.[11]
In October 2024, Robert Habeck, Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and member of The Greens, proposed a debt-financed fund to promote investment by companies in order to fill the gap in the government's budget.[12] The plan would be irreconcilable with Germany's debt brake(Schuldenbremse), which limits annual structural deficits to 0.35% of GDP. On 1 November 2024, Lindner issued an 18-page policy paper, calling for a new economic policy for the coalition.[13] Lindner called for halting new regulations, introducing new tax cuts, and cutting public spending, including on action against climate change, in order to solve the country's economic crisis.[14] In November 2024, the newspapers Die Zeit and Süddeutsche Zeitung found evidence that Lindner's paper was part of a broader plan by the FDP to intentionally cause the collapse of the coalition.[15]
Lindner's paper was deemed a "provocation" by The Greens and SPD, who considered his positions incompatible with the coalition agreement.[12] This led to crisis talks in the Chancellery over the continued existence of the coalition, which culminated in a session of coalition representatives, including Scholz, Habeck and Lindner meeting on 6 November.[12]
On the night of 6 November, shortly after talks with Lindner and Habeck, Scholz announced he would ask Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the president of Germany, to dismiss Lindner from his position as finance minister. According to the German Constitution, only the president can dismiss federal ministers from their post, which in the past generally has been done by request from the chancellor.
In his statement, Scholz said he saw himself forced to this measure to prevent damage to the country and to uphold the government's capacity to act. He stated he had made an offer to Lindner earlier that day as to how the gap in the budget could be filled, which Lindner had failed to accept.[16]
On 7 November, President Steinmeier officially dismissed Lindner and swore in his successor, Jörg Kukies (SPD), as requested by Scholz. As Kukies was formerly an investment banker at Goldman Sachs, his appointment was criticised by some politicians, including members of Scholz's own Social Democratic Party as well as Sahra Wagenknecht, leader of the left-populist BSW.[17]
On 8 November, Wissing's website became victim of a hostile takeover, after which the homepage displayed FDP advertisements.[20]
Vote of confidence
On 6 November, after the announcement of Lindner's dismissal, Scholz also announced his intention to call for a vote of confidence in his government on 15 January 2025, potentially enabling an early 2025 federal election.[21] Should the chancellor not win the confidence of the majority of the Bundestag in the vote, he would be able to request the president to dissolve the Bundestag (Article 68 of the constitution). The president would then have 21 days to consider the request; if he agreed to the dissolution, a snap election would be held within 60 days of the dissolution date.
Scholz' plan for a vote of confidence on 15 January 2025 would require a possible snap federal election in early April at the latest, per the constitution. Several opposition parties called for a vote of confidence in November 2024, much sooner than the date proposed by Scholz. Supporters of this initiative include the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU) parties (both centre-right), the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the left-populist Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW).[17][8][22][23]
A poll taken by German public broadcaster ARD found that 65% of those surveyed favoured immediate elections.[23]
On 8 November, Ruth Brand, the Federal Returning Officer responsible for organising the election, raised concerns about an election date in January, deeming it administratively difficult to organise the election by then, because of the Christmas break. The left-wing opposition party Die Linke also supported the chancellor in his push for a later election date.[24]
On 10 November, Scholz showed himself open to moving his vote of confidence to before the Christmas break, declaring he would orient himself to a schedule by SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich and opposition leader Friedrich Merz (CDU).[25] On 12 November, a compromise was reached between the SPD and the CDU/CSU for the vote of confidence to occur on 16 December 2024 and the election to be held on 23 February 2025.[3]
The results of the vote. Yes is green, no is magenta, gray is abstain, and black is not voting.
On 16 December, Scholz lost the confidence vote, paving the way for elections to be held in February 2025.[26]
Opposition leader Friedrich Merz (CDU) met with President Steinmeier on 7 November to discuss the situation.[23] Scholz announced that he would ask Merz for support in passing the budget and boosting military spending.[28]
Dissolution of Bundestag
As expected, President Steinmeier formally dissolved the Bundestag on 27 December 2024, and announced new elections for 23 February 2025.[4]
The Free Democratic Party is a liberal political party in Germany.
Germany is a democratic and federal parliamentary republic, where federal legislative power is vested in the Bundestag and the Bundesrat.
Alliance 90/The Greens, often simply referred to as Greens, is a green political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of the Greens and Alliance 90. The Greens had itself merged with the East German Green Party after German reunification in 1990.
Federal elections were held in Germany on 18 September 2005 to elect the members of the 16th Bundestag. The snap election was called after the government's defeat in the North Rhine-Westphalia state election, which caused them to intentionally lose a motion of confidence to trigger an early federal election. The outgoing government was a coalition of the centre-left Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and Alliance 90/The Greens, led by federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. The election was originally intended for the autumn of 2006.
In German politics, a traffic light coalition is a coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Alliance 90/The Greens. It is named after the parties' traditional colours, respectively red, yellow, and green, matching the colour sequence of a traffic light (Ampel). So far, the only instance of a traffic light coalition on a federal level in Germany has been in Olaf Scholz' cabinet between 2021 and its collapse over disagreements in November 2024.
Federal elections were held in Germany on 27 September 2009 to elect the members of the 17th Bundestag.
Olaf Scholz is a German politician who has been Chancellor of Germany since 2021. A member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), he previously served as vice chancellor in the fourth Merkel cabinet and as Federal Minister of Finance from 2018 to 2021. He was also First Mayor of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018, deputy leader of the SPD from 2009 to 2019, and Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs from 2007 to 2009.
Christian Wolfgang Lindner is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who was the Federal Minister of Finance from 2021 until his dismissal in 2024 during the 2024 German government crisis. Serving since 2013, Lindner is the longest-serving party-leader of the FDP and a Member of the Bundestag (MdB) for North-Rhine-Westphalia since 2017, previously holding a seat from 2009 until 2012.
Federal elections were held on 22 September to elect the members of the 18th Bundestag of Germany. At stake were all 598 seats to the Bundestag, plus 33 overhang seats determined thereafter. The Christian Democratic Union of Germany/Christian Social Union of Bavaria (CDU/CSU) of incumbent chancellor Angela Merkel won their best result since 1990 with nearly 42% of the vote and nearly 50% of the seats, just five short for an overall majority. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) failed to meet the 5% vote electoral threshold in what was their worst showing ever in a federal election, denying them seats in the Bundestag for the first time in their history.
The history of Germany from 1990 to the present spans the period following German reunification, when West Germany and East Germany were reunited after being divided during the Cold War. Germany after 1990 is referred to by historians as the Berlin Republic. This time period is also determined by the ongoing process of the "inner reunification" of the formerly divided country.
Federal elections were held in Germany on 24 September 2017 to elect the members of the 19th Bundestag. At stake were at least 598 seats in the Bundestag, as well as 111 overhang and leveling seats determined thereafter.
Federal elections were held in Germany on 26 September 2021 to elect the members of the 20th Bundestag. State elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern were also held. Incumbent chancellor Angela Merkel, first elected in 2005, chose not to run again, marking the first time that an incumbent Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany did not seek re-election.
Marco Buschmann is a German lawyer and politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who served as Federal Minister of Justice in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's cabinet from 2021 to November 2024. He has served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2009 to 2013 and again since 2017.
Katja Hessel is a German lawyer and politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Bavaria since 2017.
Daniela Kluckert is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Berlin since 2017.
Volker Wissing is a German lawyer and former judge who has been serving as the Minister for Transport in the federal government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz since 2021 and as Minister of Justice since 2024.
The 2022 North Rhine-Westphalia state election was held on 15 May 2022 to elect the 18th Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia. The outgoing government was a coalition of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Free Democratic Party (FDP) led by Minister-President Hendrik Wüst.
A federal election will be held in Germany on 23 February 2025 to elect the 630 members of the 21st Bundestag. Originally scheduled for 28 September 2025, the elections were brought forward due to the collapse of the governing coalition during the 2024 German government crisis. It is the fourth snap election in the history of post-war Germany after those in 1972, 1983 and 2005.
The Scholz cabinet is the current cabinet of Germany, led by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The cabinet is composed of Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SPD) and Alliance 90/The Greens. The Free Democratic Party (FDP) was a member of the cabinet until 7 November 2024 when the three-way coalition collapsed through Scholz's dismissal of FDP Finance Minister Christian Lindner. Scholz announced pursuing a snap election to be held in early 2025. On 16 December 2024, Scholz lost a vote of no confidence. On the same day, he requested the President of Germany to dissolve the Bundestag; the President has 21 days to approve the request and, if so, call new elections. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier granted the request and called new elections for 23 February 2025.
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