New elections: Opposition increases pressure on the Chancellor

After the traffic light coalition failed, the opposition is trying to increase the pressure on the Chancellor and achieve quick new elections. At the request of the AfD, the Bundestag is debating how to proceed today.

In January, Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to ask for a vote of confidence and thus enable new elections. But for many that is too late.

FDP leader Christian Lindner demanded on ZDF that the path to new elections must be cleared as quickly as possible. The FDP will only speak again about important legislative proposals in the Bundestag after a vote of confidence from Scholz.

“We now need clarity quickly,” said FDP politician Marco Buschmann, former Federal Minister of Justice, in the ARD-Brennpunkt. “Germany cannot afford a hung game.” And it is not responsible to continue an ineffective government.

Constructive Vote of no confidence is not an option

CDU leader Friedrich Merz also repeated his call for quick new elections. Only after Chancellor Olaf Scholz had asked the vote of confidence would the Union be ready to talk about supporting certain legislative proposals that Scholz wanted, Merz said ARD-Brennpunkt. “Before that, we will not have any discussions on any issue with the remaining government.”

Merz initially did not see a constructive vote of no confidence as an opportunity to overthrow SPD Chancellor Scholz. “From today’s perspective, that is not an option,” said Merz. “I don’t know what will happen in four weeks.” He continues to hope that Scholz will “come to his senses and ask the question of confidence earlier” in order to clear the way for new elections soon.

With a constructive vote of no confidence, a majority in the Bundestag could remove the Chancellor without new elections and replace him with a new head of government. Even if the CDU/CSU and FDP wanted to do this together, they were currently around 80 votes short in parliament.

Since cooperation with the AfD and the Left is out of the question for the CDU and the BSW could only contribute ten votes, a majority would only be conceivable if the Greens defected. Merz doesn’t think that’s likely for the time being, but hasn’t completely ruled it out for the future.

“Orderly procedure”

SPD General Secretary Matthias Miersch defended the schedule daily topics and called on Merz to support the minority government in passing “important laws” in the Bundestag. “The election campaign begins after the vote of confidence. If the question of confidence is asked, then there will no longer be a majority for these decisions,” said Miersch.

Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said at MaischbergerScholz decided on an “orderly procedure” after careful consideration. “The Basic Law applies. The Chancellor decides this for himself based on our history.”

Apart from Christmas and New Year’s Eve, Baerbock also justified Scholz’s proposal with the international circumstances. The new US President Donald Trump will not be in office until January. While the USA now has “no president who is really capable of acting”, Germany should not be immediately facing an election.

Current hour in the Bundestag

The traffic light off and the question of what happens next will also concern the Bundestag today. At the request of the AfD, there will be a current hour on the topic in the morning. The agenda in the Bundestag has shrunk significantly as a result of the government crisis. There is only one other item on the agenda: MPs are debating the fall of the Berlin Wall on the 35th anniversary.