Scholz is ready to vote for new elections this year

The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is moving away from his original plan of only leaving his post as head of government in the spring. “That I’ll have it before Christmas Question of trust “If everyone sees it that way, it’s no problem for me at all,” said Scholz in an ARD interview on Sunday evening.

After the traffic light coalition collapsed, he was asked by the conservative Union and the former coalition partner FDP to quickly facilitate new elections.

Warning about an early election date

Berlin’s state returning officer Stephan Bröchler warned urgently against a too early date for the new Bundestag elections. “I can only advise you to approach the issue prudently, to listen to experts and not to fall into immediacy when determining the election date,” Bröchler told the German Press Agency. Of course, a new election must also be organized for January if this is politically desired and decided by the Federal President.

“But we have to be clear that this endangers the quality of democratic elections,” said Bröchler, who came into office in 2021 after serious election mishaps in Berlin and has since organized two repeat elections, among other things. “If we want to maintain the high quality standards that we have at the federal and state levels, then I would advise against an election date in January.”

Bröchler explained that organizing elections in the federal Republic is more complex than in central states such as France. A lot needs to be coordinated and discussed between the federal and state governments. In his opinion, an early election date, possibly with an election campaign over Christmas, will cause many problems, for example when looking for rooms for polling stations, recruiting and training election workers, obtaining paper, printing and sending voting documents, including postal voting.

SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich had previously signaled that the opposition would accommodate the election date, but called for agreements on which projects would still be implemented together. “Both challenges can be tackled together and together,” he told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung”. As concrete examples, he cited the increase in child benefit, the securing of the Germany Ticket, relief for industry and the protection of the Constitutional Court. If such an agenda were agreed, it would be “easily possible to find a sensible date for the election,” he said.

In the interview, Scholz once again rejected responsibility for the end of the traffic light coalition. He did not provoke FDP leader Christian Lindner in the dispute over the budget, but rather fought to the end to preserve the coalition. “I have endured the fact that in order to compromise and cooperate, I have repeatedly, sometimes with a good face, turned a pretty nasty game. But when it’s over, then it has to be over,” he said. Scholz also defended his public reckoning with Lindner after he announced his dismissal. “It was decent, clear and clear and very understandable for all citizens,” he said. He was often asked to be on the table more often. Without his efforts to compromise, the government would not have lasted as long as it did.

Although his government, which only consists of the SPD and the Greens, no longer has a majority in the Bundestag, Scholz is comparatively well in the saddle. In Germany, a Federal Chancellor can only be removed by electing a successor with an absolute majority – or the incumbent head of government himself asks for a vote of confidence and loses it. This is also the only way to get early elections. The Bundestag does not have the power to dissolve itself.

In the discussion about the path to new elections, the SPD and Green factions want a special public meeting of the election verification committee on Tuesday. The aim must be to “discuss with the Federal Returning Officer as to when, from her point of view, the new election can take place at the earliest based on her practical experience,” says a letter of application to Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD), which is available to the German Press Agency in Berlin. The meeting must take place at the requested time in order to “take into account the concerns of the proper preparation and implementation of the election in the ongoing public debate”.

On Monday, the federal and state election authorities want to discuss preparations for the early election of the Bundestag. In a letter to Scholz, Federal Returning Officer Ruth Brand warned of “unforeseeable risks” from shorter deadlines. According to Article 39, the Bundestag must be re-elected within 60 days of the Federal President dissolving Parliament. Brand wants to make full use of the deadline “in order to be able to take all necessary measures in a legally secure and timely manner.”

In the letter, Brand pointed out logistical challenges such as appointing election committees, recruiting and training poll workers, organizing polling stations and, finally, possible problems with obtaining paper.

The paper industry is opposing this. “Clear answer: Yes. If ordered on time, we can deliver the paper required for an early federal election,” said Alexander von Reibnitz, general manager of the Paper Industry Association, “ZDFheute.de”.

The Union also contradicted Brand. “I can therefore only advise the Federal Returning Officer not to allow anyone to exploit her,” says the First Parliamentary Managing Director of the Union faction, Thorsten Frei, to “Bild am Sonntag”.