German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier dissolved the Bundestag on Monday - the lower house of the German parliament, Reuters reported. The head of state called a snap election on February 23. The decision was made after the collapse of the three-party ruling coalition led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, quoted by BTA.
The coalition collapse followed the loss of a vote of confidence in parliament earlier this month, after the Free Democratic Party (FDP), which includes Finance Minister Christian Lindner, withdrew from the coalition. This left the government without a majority in the Bundestag.
The loss of the confidence vote in parliament effectively opened the election race for chancellor of Germany. According to opinion polls, the leader of the conservative CDU/CSU bloc, Friedrich Merz, is the favorite to succeed Scholz. Merz argues that the government has imposed excessive regulations that have stifled economic growth. Scholz's German Social Democratic Party (SPD) is trailing the CDU/CSU by more than 10 points in opinion polls.
The far-right "Alternative for Germany" also has a small lead over the SPD, and the "Greens" are in fourth place.