Germany on the way to elections? Olaf Schulz asks the parliament – express no confidence in me

According to a report in the Reuters news agency, German Chancellor Olaf Schulz will today (Monday) call on the German parliament to declare no confidence in him in order to promote a first official step towards securing early elections following the collapse of his government.

According to the report, the departure of the neoliberal Free Democrats from the coalition last month left Schulz’s Social Democrats and the Greens in power without a parliamentary majority, at a point where Germany is facing an economic crisis described as the deepest seen in the country in a generation.

Reuters points out that rules put in place to prevent governmental instability and short-lived governments, which played an important role in helping the Nazis come to power in the 1930s, make the road to new elections a long one and one largely controlled by the chancellor.

Schultz was reported to have told reporters Wednesday after making the motion, “If lawmakers follow the path I’m recommending, I will propose to the president to dissolve parliament.” President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he would act accordingly after Monday’s vote and agreed with parliamentary parties that early elections would be held on February 23.

Assuming the vote of no confidence passes, Schultz and his ministers will remain in office until a new government is formed, which could take months if coalition negotiations drag on.

Schulz outlined a list of measures that could pass with opposition support during that period, including tax cuts of 11 billion euros and increases in child benefits already agreed by former coalition partners.

In addition, discussions are planned on additional measures, measures that include protecting the Constitutional Court from the conduct of a potentially populist or anti-democratic government, lowering energy prices and expanding public transportation subsidies.

According to the Reuters report, the result of the vote is not certain, as Schultz’s party may vote that it has confidence in the chancellor, while the conservatives in the opposition, far ahead in the polls, as well as the Free Democrats are expected to declare no confidence in their vote. This is while the extreme right party is an alternative to Germany, which all other parties refuse to work with, may surprise the legislators and actually vote for confidence in Schultz.

If both the SPD (Schulz’s party) and the Greens support the Chancellor, he will be placed in the awkward position of remaining in office with the support of a party he rejects as anti-democratic. In that case, most observers expect him to resign, a move that would itself lead to elections. To avoid this scenario, many lawmakers expect the Greens to abstain from the vote.