German president dissolves parliament, confirms February vote 

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has dissolved the country’s parliament, confirming that snap elections prompted by the recent collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government will be held on February 23.

Delivering a speech at Berlin’s Bellevue Palace on Friday, Steinmeier said that the country required “a government capable of acting” and “reliable majorities in parliament” to maintain stability in “difficult times”.

Scholz, a Social Democrat, lost a confidence vote in parliament earlier this month after the departure of Finance Minister Christian Lindner’s Free Democrats left his unwieldy governing coalition without a legislative majority.

He will remain in office as a caretaker chancellor until a new government is formed at a time when the country is reeling from a deadly car-ramming attack at a Christmas market last week, which has revived heated debate over security and immigration.

Suspect Taleb al-Abdulmohse, a 50-year-old psychiatrist from Saudi Arabia who had lived in Germany for nearly 20 years, was a supporter of the increasingly popular far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD), and who had promoted Islamophobic views.

The president, whose post has been largely ceremonial in the post-war era, called for the election campaign to be conducted fairly and transparently, warning of “foreign influence”, with specific reference to billionaire Elon Musk’s social media platform, X.

“Hatred and violence must have no place in this election campaign, nor denigration or intimidation … all this is poison for democracy,” Steinmeier said.

He also reminded political parties and voters of the challenges the next government will face given the “economically unstable situation” and “the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine”, as well as debates over immigration and climate change.

Steinmeier emphasised in his speech that problem-solving must become the core business of politics again.

Polls suggest conservative challenger Friedrich Merz, who claims the incumbent government stifled growth with excessive regulations, will replace Scholz.

The polls indicate the conservatives hold a comfortable lead of more than 10 points over Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD).

Mainstream parties have refused to govern with AfD, which is positioned slightly ahead of the SPD in polls, but its presence complicates parliamentary arithmetic, making shaky coalitions more likely.