The parliamentarians in the Bundestag decide whether they will withdraw their confidence in Chancellor Olaf Scholz. This could pave the way for new elections.
Berlin – The Bundestag will meet for a special session on Monday (December 16th). The reason: Parliament is voting on whether to withdraw its confidence in Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Scholz asked the question of trust on December 11th. If more than half of the members of the Bundestag withdraw their confidence in Scholz, the way is clear for the planned new elections in February. In our live ticker on the vote of confidence we will inform you about all developments in the vote in the Bundestag.
Scholz asks a vote of confidence in the Bundestag: You can follow the vote live here
The vote is considered necessary so that Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier can dissolve the incumbent Bundestag and thus initiate the early federal election planned for February 23rd. The debate and vote can be followed on various channels from 1 p.m.:
- German wave
- n-tv
- ARD
- Phoenix
- World TV
The special session of the Bundestag on the vote of confidence will also be broadcast online. For this purpose, the Bundestag website has set up its own live stream from 1 p.m. Roll-call voting can also be done via radio via the digital radio ARDthe rbb Inforadio and other connected stations from 1 p.m. will be followed.
Scholz asks a vote of confidence in the Bundestag: This is how the special session works
The vote of confidence in the Bundestag follows a strict schedule. Before the vote in the Bundestag takes place, there is a 25-minute statement from the Federal Chancellor. Afterwards, a debate lasting around two hours is planned, after which the roll-call vote will take place.
In order to continue acting as Chancellor, more than 50 percent of the members of the Bundestag would have to express their confidence in Scholz. However, this cannot be assumed after the break of the traffic light coalition. Some MPs have already announced their veto against the Chancellor. For example, FDP MP Jens Teutrine wrote on X: “Today is a good day. Scholz asks the question of trust, and I vote no.” (nhi)
