President of Germany dissolves Parliament

The President of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, announced this Friday (Dec 27, 2024) the dissolution of the Bundestag, the German Parliament. The measure was expected after Chancellor Olaf Scholz (Social Democratic Party, center-left) in the Legislature on December 16.

With the fall of the Scholz government, the prime minister asked the president to dissolve Parliament and bring forward the elections. Steinmeier must confirm the new election for February 23, a date already stated by party leaders. Initially, Germans would only go to the polls in September.

Political instability in Germany began with the breakup of the coalition that governed the country.

The group was formed by SPD (Social Democratic Party, center-left), Green Party (center-left) and FDP (Liberal Democratic Party, center-right). It was known as the “Traffic Coalition” and had a majority in Parliament ().

The break occurred after Scholz fired Finance Minister Christian Lindner – leader of the Liberal Democratic Party – on November 6. The reason given by the government was a divergence in the budget plan.

The low popularity of economic policies, legislative crises and other differences in the coalition also contributed to the group’s demise. Read more from Poder360.

SCHOLZ WILL TRY FOR RE-ELECTION

For now, 4 party leaders have already confirmed that they will seek the leadership of the next government. They are:

• Friedrich Merz (Christian Democratic Union, center-right);
• Olaf Scholz (Social Democratic Party, center-left);
• Robert Habeck (Green Party, center-left);
• Alice Weidel (Alternative for Germany, right).

from the company YouGov show that the Christian Democratic Union (center-right), the party of former Chancellor Angela Merkel, leads voting intentions and should return to govern Germany.

The AfD (Alternative for Germany, right), is 2nd in the voting intention polls. However, the party’s likely large representation in the Bundestag is unlikely to place it in the next government. This is because the acronym is isolated from the articulations of the other parties who consider it “extremist”.

UNDERSTAND HOW THE ELECTION WORKS

German voters are due to go to the polls on February 23 with the aim of forming a new composition of Parliament. On one ballot, they will vote for a candidate and on another, for the party.

The vote for the candidate will determine who, in fact, will be elected parliamentarian, while the vote for the party helps to define the proportion of seats that each party will have in the new Parliament.

All parties with more than 5% of the votes will have proportional representation in the Legislature. If a party does not reach this coefficient, the votes are not considered and, therefore, the number of seats can be changed in the legislature.

There is an exception to the norm if at least 3 candidates from the party with less than 5% of the votes manage to be directly elected in their respective districts. In this case, the party, even if it has less than the minimum number of votes, will be represented proportionally in the Legislature.

This system allowed Germany’s Parliament to have varying numbers of parliamentarians for years. However, due to the consensual approval of the country’s electoral reform, the 2025 elections will be the first to have a limit of 630 seats.

After the elections, the party or coalition that obtains the majority of seats proposes the name of the new chancellor, which must be voted on in Parliament. Elected parliamentarians will have up to 30 days to do so.

If the name does not receive the majority of votes within the deadline, a new election is called up to 30 days later. During this period of choosing the next chancellor, the current one, Olaf Scholz, continues as head of government, but on an interim basis.

If none of the candidates for the chancellor election are elected in the 2 rounds, President Steinmeier may be recommended to dissolve the Bundestag again and new general elections be called.