Scholz defeated in historic confidence vote in move to force new German elections

Olaf Scholz lost a historic vote of confidence yesterday in the German parliament, paving the way for early national elections after the collapse of his government.

- Kate Connolly

The German chancellor had called the vote to deliberately lose it, urging the Bundestag, or lower house of parliament, to declare its lack of confidence in him so that the first formal step could be taken towards triggering new elections.

Scholz will now ask the president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, to dissolve parliament and to formally call new elections, which have to take place within 60 days and have been pencilled in for 23 February.

The embattled chancellor required 367 votes of no confidence to succeed in his aim and in the end 394 MPs obliged him. There were 207 yes votes, and 116 abstentions.

"My goal is to bring the federal election forward," Scholz had told a packed chamber. "This is about having trust in our country and not putting our future at risk."

He said his aim was to shore up confidence in the future of the country, insisting: "Germany's best days lie ahead of us."

Scholz's three-way "traffic light" coalition collapsed in November after the pro-business Free Democratic party (FDP) quit in protest over the chancellor's sacking of the finance minister, Christian Lindner, after deep disagreements around debt management.