German Chancellor Olaf Scholz Loses Confidence Vote, Prompting Snap Election

Europe|German Government Collapses at a Perilous Time for Europe

Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote in the German Parliament on Monday, a defeat that effectively ended the increasingly unpopular government he has led since 2021 and set the stage for elections early next year.

The collapse of the government just nine months before elections had been scheduled was an extraordinary moment for Germany. This will be only the fourth snap election in the 75 years since the modern state was founded, and it reflected a new era of more fractious and unstable politics in a country long known for durable coalitions built on plodding consensus.

German lawmakers voted to dissolve the existing government by a vote of 394 to 207, with 116 abstaining.

The confidence vote, in the same month that the French government fell, deepens a crisis of leadership in Europe at a time of mounting economic and security challenges. The war in Ukraine has reached a pivotal moment. President-elect Donald J. Trump is set to take office in the United States. And now, Europe’s largest economy is in the hands of a caretaker government.

Mr. Scholz had little choice but to take the unusual step of calling for the confidence vote after his three-party coalition splintered in November, ending months of bitter internal squabbling and leaving him without a parliamentary majority to pass laws or a budget.

But the political uncertainty could last for months. The elections are expected to be held on Feb. 23, but even if, as expected, his party does not finish first, Mr. Scholz would remain in place as a caretaker chancellor until weeks after that. He would step down only after a new coalition forms, which will probably not happen until April or May.