After the German Bundestag withdrew confidence in Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), the head of government requested the dissolution of the parliament from President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Scholz appeared at the presidential palace in Bellevue just a few minutes after the vote.
Steinmeier has 21 days to decide on the dissolution of the parliament, after which new elections must take place within 60 days. The parties had already agreed on February 23, 2025, as the election date. Although the president announced he would consider alternative options before making a decision on new elections, an alternative solution is considered unlikely. Even after the dissolution, the Bundestag would remain capable of passing decisions until the new Bundestag is constituted.
In a special session of the parliament, only 207 MPs explicitly expressed confidence in Scholz during the anonymous vote, with 394 voting against the SPD politician and 116 abstaining. A chancellor’s majority would have required 367 votes.