Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
GERMAN CHANCELLOR OLAF Scholz has lost a confidence vote in parliament, putting the European Union’s most populous member and biggest economy on course to hold an early election in late February.
Scholz won the support of 207 MPs in the 733-seat lower house, or Bundestag, while 394 voted against him and 116 abstained.
That left him far short of the majority of 367 needed to win.
Scholz leads a minority government after his unpopular and notoriously rancorous three-party coalition collapsed on 6 November when he fired his finance minister in a dispute over how to revitalise Germany’s stagnant economy.
Leaders of several major parties then agreed that a parliamentary election should be held on 23 February, seven months earlier than originally planned.
The confidence vote was needed because post-Second World War Germany’s constitution does not allow the Bundestag to dissolve itself.
President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has to decide whether to dissolve parliament and call an election.
He has 21 days to make that decision and, because of the planned timing of the election, is expected to do so after Christmas.
Once parliament is dissolved, the election must be held within 60 days.
In practice, the campaign is already well under way, and Monday’s three-hour debate reflected that.
Scholz, a centre-left Social Democrat, told MPs that the election will determine whether “we, as a strong country, dare to invest strongly in our future; do we have confidence in ourselves and our country, or do we put our future on the line? Do we risk our cohesion and our prosperity by delaying long-overdue investments?”
His pitch to voters includes pledges to “modernise” Germany’s strict self-imposed rules on running up debt, to increase the national minimum wage and to reduce VAT on food.
Centre-right challenger Friedrich Merz said that “you’re leaving the country in one of its biggest economic crises in post-war history”.
“You’re standing here and saying, business as usual, let’s run up debt at the expense of the younger generation, let’s spend money, and the word ‘competitiveness’ of the German economy didn’t come up once in the speech you gave today,” Merz said.
The Chancellor said Germany is Ukraine’s biggest military supplier in Europe and he wants to keep that up, but underlined his insistence that he will not supply long-range Taurus cruise missiles, over concerns of escalating the war with Russia, or send German troops into the conflict.
“We will do nothing that jeopardises our own security,” he said.
Merz, who has been open to sending the long-range missiles, said that “we don’t need any lectures on war and peace” from Scholz’s party.
He said, however, that the political rivals in Berlin are united in an “absolute will to do everything so that this war in Ukraine ends as quickly as possible”.
Polls show Scholz’s party trailing well behind Merz’s main opposition Union bloc, which is in the lead.
Vice chancellor Robert Habeck of the environmentalist Greens, the remaining partner in Scholz’s government, is also bidding for the top job, although his party is further back.
The far-right Alternative for Germany, which is polling strongly, has nominated Alice Weidel as its candidate for chancellor, but has no chance of taking the job because other parties refuse to work with it.
Germany’s electoral system 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.
Confidence votes are rare in Germany, a country of 83 million people that prizes stability.
This was only the sixth time in its post-war history that a chancellor had called one.
The last was in 2005, when then-chancellor Gerhard Schroeder engineered an early election that was narrowly won by centre-right challenger Angela Merkel.
What does the EU Membership (France and Germany) think by two superior countries in turmoil?
They have shoved unknown people in top of us by crippling our public services, taken up housing and getting everything handed to them from Social Welfare, Medical Cards, Free Travel etc.
If these two countries don’t stop this nonsense of shoving unknown immigrants into poorer countries like Ireland. The U.K. was right to leave the club of bullies.
@Tommy: lol, we need to be part of something, we’re that small, our economy is that insignificant, the UK have some 65 million people, plenty big enough, we’re beggars Tommy, do you think Germany or France would even notice the blip if we left? :)
@Frank Mc Carthy: What’s with the new ‘Peter Mann’ account? Have you retired one of the others?
@Brendan O’Brien: you’re the troll who’s on here morning noon and night, on every article, harassing people, that’s unstable behaviour
@Peter Mann: How would you know this if you’re brand new to the site?
@Brendan O’Brien: take a break, it will do you good
@Peter Mann: As usual, many of the things you say to others apply to yourself most of all. Surely there must be more to life than 24/7 multi-ID trolling on a website?
@Brendan O’Brien: every article you’re straight in with the juvenile lies & accusations….. obviously, you’re ‘untouchable ‘ by journal.ie moderators but what’s the point?? If this is your only raison d’etre it’s kinda sad & pathetic, no?
@Frank Mc Carthy: You’re not fooling anyone.
@Tommy: There’s a lot of UK worshippers around these days. The inferiority complex is making a comeback.
@Peter Mann: Smells like a Doe, walks like a Doe, talks like a Doe, its a new Doe a/c..
Soon to be banned and respawn as a Paul or Dave G Mann… LOL
@Tommy: It’s not just Ireland getting this influx, it’s every European country, including Uk, Germany and France. It will continue with millions more until either someone/EU says enough or european countries social protection policies crash under the sheer numbers arriving.
@Thesaltyurchin: the would not like it at all because most of the rest of the EU would leave if we left
@Brendan O’Brien: Brendan every now and again I read this rag, but every single time on any given day you’re always posting comments (always in support of the Gov & far left policies) so very obvious that you either work for one of these NGOs, (we do have thirty thousand of them after all) or you work for the Journal…just own it!
@Michael Collins: that doe child is impaired in a way. Getting too much air time as it is with response of any sort. It all feeds his childish sad objective. Best to mute and report it.
@Thesaltyurchin: Maybe it’s a good time to debate the possible benefits or negative impacts of joining BRICS.
@Tommy: wtf are you talking about, economic migrants from Ireland are all over the world
@Tommy: yeah that’s why their economy is busted
@Peter Mann: how you doing frank the wa#k
@Frank Mc Carthy: hi Peter you pri*k
@sean weir: legal….or illegal? No Irish person with a criminal record can set foot in the US or Oz….now are you saying the same goes for here…oh I forgot silly question, when it comes to all the illegals we are welcoming with open arms we have no way of knowing, do we?
@Emer McDonnell: There are 1000′s of Irish illegals in the USA for economic reasons. This has been the case historically.
@Sun Rise: And….are you saying we should condone it?
@James Casey: wha?
Hopefully no charismatic Austrians will be running in this one.
@Don’t Forget: why not?
@Maximilian Kolbe: Really? That’s your comment?
@Louis Jacob: yes
@Maximilian Kolbe: I think he’s referring to the late lamented Chancellor with the ‘tash!
@Maximilian Kolbe: ironic that someone posting under the name of a heroic Saint of the Catholic Church who sacrificed his life to save the life of a man with a young family in a Nazi death camp in the late days of world War 2.
Disgusting that the Journal is allowing anonymous accounts under the names of noble historical characters post toxic slop hateful opinions.
@Maximilian Kolbe: as dim as a one watt bulb
@Brian Hunt: thanks Sherlock
Should have happened in Ireland over Maurice McCabe and the whistleblowers and certainly over cervical check. Ah well, nothing to see Paddy will look forward to years of more things just like it …
@S Suilleabhain: sorry let me correct that immediately for the many history rewriters who gather here. Fg FF would have just survived another no confidence motion(s) they had no business surviving.
Smells like a Doe, walks like a Doe, talks like a Doe, its a new Doe a/c..
Soon to be banned and respawn as a Paul or Dave G Mann… LOL ..
It is high time for Ireland to give serious consideration for leaving the EU, it is an organisation of elites, who like to throw their weight around
@Peter Mann: Luckily Ireland has far too much sense to do that.
@Peter Mann: and your alternative suggestion is ?
An Islamic Republic?
@Thomas Sheridan: I’m afraid, that ship has sailed
@Thomas Sheridan: The commonwealth gives him wet dreams.
@Peter Mann Smells like a Doe, walks like a Doe, talks like a Doe, its a new Doe a/c..
Soon to be banned and respawn as a Paul or Dave G Mann… LOL
@Peter Mann: sure we’d be asked to vote again the right way again if we voted to get out like what happened after the no votes from Nice and Lisbon treaty elections
@Peter Mann: who woke Frank up ??
@James Casey: We got the assurances we required to agree to both treaties. I don’t see any issue.
Germany has lot confidence…
This will displease Putin, so we can expect his standard electoral meddling to commence immediately.
@honey badger: Hey Ursla Honey, your at your usual crap again,, where is your proof of interference from Russia in any country’s election..
@saladin: What kind of proof do you need?
@saladin: Why are you lads always illiterate?
@saladin: well, funny how all these “rumours” are turning up in every election…except in the States where the favourite lost and Outin’s buddy got in
@honey badger: produce the evidence or shut up.
@Louis Jacob: evidence Louis Jacob.. Evidence.
@saladin: The State Senate committee didn’t find any evidence, the Congress didn’t find any evidence, the FBI didn’t find any evidence,, perhaps you have some insider knowledge about these things. Good man
If it’s called for an election, I wonder will the so called ‘far right’ party the AFD win? The same ‘far right’ party that has a lesbian woman as their leader who is pro LGBT. Controlled opposition at its finest.
@Maximilian Kolbe: Controlled by whom?
@Brendan O’Brien: hmm I wonder… I wonder what clique wants to further demoralise the Germans, like the Weimar Republic. ‘What are we going to do with the Germans?’. Hmmm…
@Maximilian Kolbe: I didn’t doubt that it would be some ‘conspiracy’ nonsense.
@Brendan O’Brien: oh really, a conspiracy? Explain why the ‘far right’ party of Germany, selected a Alice Weidel, a woman, who is a lesbian, married to an immigrant from Sri Lanka. Who is pro LGBT. Doesn’t that go against everything the ‘far right’ stand for? Go ahead and give your opinion, I would love to hear it.
@Maximilian Kolbe: Why wouldn’t they prey tell, it’s views they care about so you’re saying a lesbian can’t be a bigot? Can’t hate foreigners? You’re a special type of cluelessness.
@Maximilian Kolbe: far right has been associated with anti women’s rights, anti immigration, anti lgbt and anti semitism. Ok let’s look at the leader of the AFD, and see if their leader represents these far right views… oh wait
@Brian D’Arcy: how could she hate foreigners if she’s married to a Hindu immigrant from Sri Lanka ? That doesn’t even make sense.
@Brian D’Arcy: Ya, I didn’t expect a reply. You can’t come up with a reason.
@Maximilian Kolbe: are you on drugs???
Can I have some ???
@Maximilian Kolbe:
A September 2017 report by Die Zeit claimed that Weidel had illegally hired a Syrian refugee to do housework at her home in Switzerland. The report also alleged that the asylum seeker did not have a written work contract, nor were there invoices for her work. Weidel responded in a tweet that the Die Zeit report was “fake news” and “false” and Weidel’s lawyer stated that Weidel had a Syrian stay at her home as a guest but not as a worker
@sean weir: what does that have to do with her wife being a Hindu immigrant from Sri Lanka?
@Maximilian Kolbe: Have you read their manifesto? 2017 version is available in English, will read through it tonight.
@Maximilian Kolbe: IDIOT,, Your Maxed out man.
The EU is finished
Time for the EU to start listening & working on people’s behalf, the select few like Macron, Scholz, Van Der Lyen & Merkel along with the freaks in the EU Commission who spend their time pandering to the world & woke idealism, have brought Europe to the point of collapse, with the two biggest economies in the EU unable to form Govt’s & France on the precipice of civil war. Unless there is serious correction, control of Immigration & concentration on the bread & butter issues facing people, the EU will collapse from within. Putin must be laughing, he doesn’t need to invade Europe, it will bring it’s own downfall from within.
Another innocuous article about upcoming elections in a foreign country & QUELLE SUPRISE, brenny has it bombarded with over 40% of the comments with his government shilling & racist diatribe. What you’ve reduced this comments section to brenny is simply vile & despicable
@Kevvy kerrr: he is nothing but a nuisance, has every article ruined with childish remarks
@Peter Mann: it’s been said he/ it’s on the payroll?
Moronic Irony from ye Trolls.. esp after weeks of ye guys commentating on US elections and yer love for Trump. And Mr Doe fooling no one with his new Mr Mann a/c… oh and btw LOL.
@Kevvy kerrr: looking like that, nobody else would get away with posting such toxicity
@Michael Collins: It’s just one troll, posting here as Peter Mann, Kevvy kerrr, Frank Mc Carthy and Basildon Joe.
have your say