Germany’s SPD, Greens, conservatives propose Feb 23 for election
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Germany’s Social Democrats, Greens and conservatives have proposed Feb. 23 as a date for a new election, sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
The Rheinische Post newspaper first reported the date.
Olaf Scholz’s remaining coalition partner said on Monday it was open to an earlier parliamentary vote to open the way to a snap election, joining with opposition parties to urge Germany’s chancellor to provide clarity on the matter this week.
Scholz, a Social Democrat, had originally planned to call and lose a confidence vote for January 15, the first step under German constitutional rules to triggering a new election, after his three-party coalition fell apart last week.
But his coalition partner, the Greens, joined with their former ally, the neoliberal Free Democrats, and the opposition conservatives in demanding Scholz move sooner.
“We expect him to create clarity this week,” Greens co-chair Ricarda Lang told a news conference, adding that the parliamentary time remaining before an election should be devoted to urgent tasks rather than continuing the old coalition’s legislative agenda.
Scholz’s coalition lost its parliamentary majority last Wednesday when the FDP quit over its more left-wing partners’ desire to spend more, using government borrowing if necessary.
It is now reliant on opposition parties to pass legislation, including the 2025 budget.
If no new budget is passed, the government can settle debts and obligations it has already incurred, including paying interest on bonds or state employees’ salaries, but it cannot take on any new obligations.
Legislators on Monday scrapped a crucial budget planning meeting, in a sign that the chances of passing a budget were fading even as calls grow for government intervention to avert a crisis in Europe’s largest economy.
The scrapping of the committee meeting makes it less likely that a majority can be cobbled together in the Bundestag to approve a budget, even if the Social Democrats and Greens manage to propose one.
