ByREUTERS

The German parliament accepted Chancellor Olaf Scholz's invitation to withdraw its confidence in him and his government on Monday, clearing the way for the Feb. 23 early election necessitated by the collapse of his government.

Scholz's three-party coalition fell apart last month after the pro-market Free Democrats quit in a row over debt, leaving his Social Democrats and the Greens without a parliamentary majority just when Germany faces a deepening economic crisis.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Germany's Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck stand up during a minute of silence on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of Hamas' October 7 attack, ahead of a session of the lower house of parliament Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, October 10, 2024.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Germany's Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck stand up during a minute of silence on the occasion of the one-year anniversary of Hamas' October 7 attack, ahead of a session of the lower house of parliament Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, October 10, 2024. (credit: Lisi Niesner/Reuters)

Preventing a shaky Germany

Under rules designed to prevent the instability that facilitated the rise of fascism in the 1930s, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier can only dissolve parliament and call elections if the chancellor calls, and loses, a confidence vote.

Only 207 of the parliament's 733 expressed confidence, while 394 withheld it.

"The motion has passed," said parliament president Baerbel Bas.