Germany set for snap election as Scholz loses confidence vote

Debate preceding vote opens campaigning as party leaders trade ill-tempered barbs

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BERLIN - The German Parliament accepted Chancellor Olaf Scholz's invitation to withdraw its confidence in him and his government on Dec 16, clearing the way for an early election on Feb 23 necessitated by the collapse of his government.

Mr Scholz's three-party coalition fell apart in November after the pro-market Free Democrats quit in a row over debt, leaving his Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens without a parliamentary majority just as Germany faces a deepening economic crisis.

Under rules designed to prevent the instability that facilitated the rise of fascism in the 1930s, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier can dissolve Parliament and call an election only if the chancellor calls, and loses, a confidence vote.

The debate preceding the vote also opened serious campaigning for the election, with party leaders trading ill-tempered barbs.

The Chancellor and his conservative challenger Friedrich Merz, who surveys suggest is likely to replace him, charged each other with incompetence and lack of vision.