FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) 鈥� German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Friday ordered parliament dissolved and set new elections for Feb. 23 in the wake of the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's governing coalition.
Scholz on Dec. 16 and leads a minority government after his unpopular and notoriously rancorous three-party coalition when he fired his finance minister in a dispute over how to revitalize .
Leaders of several major parties then agreed that a parliamentary election should be held on Feb. 23, seven months earlier than originally planned.
Since the post-World War II constitution doesn鈥檛 allow the Bundestag to dissolve itself, it was up to Steinmeier to decide whether to dissolve parliament and call an election. He had 21 days to make that decision. Once parliament is dissolved, the election must be held within 60 days.
In practice, the Polls show Scholz鈥檚 party trailing the conservative opposition Union bloc led by Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck of the environmentalist Greens, the remaining partner in Scholz鈥檚 government, is also bidding for the top job 鈥� though his party is further back. If recent polls hold up, the likely next government would be led by Merz as chancellor in coalition with at least one other party.
Key issues include immigration, how to get the sluggish economy going, and how best to aid Ukraine in its struggle against Russia.
The populist, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, or AfD, which is polling strongly, has nominated as its candidate for chancellor but has no chance of taking the job because other parties refuse to work with it.
骋别谤尘补苍测鈥檚 traditionally produces coalitions, and polls show no party anywhere near an absolute majority on its own. The election is expected to be followed by weeks of negotiations to form a new government.
It鈥檚 only the fourth time that the Bundestag has been dissolved ahead of schedule under 骋别谤尘补苍测鈥檚 post-World War II constitution. It happened under Chancellor Willy Brandt in 1972, Helmut Kohl in 1982 and Gerhard Schroeder in 2005. Schroeder used the confidence vote to engineer an early election narrowly won by center-right challenger Angela Merkel.
David Mchugh, The Associated Press
