German Chancellor Olaf Scholz loses no-confidence vote, election called for early next year

The German parliament accepted Chancellor Olaf Scholz's invitation to withdraw its confidence in him and his government on Monday, clearing the way for an early election on Feb. 23 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 as Germany faces a deepening economic crisis.

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 an election if the chancellor calls, and loses, a confidence vote.

GERMANY’S SCHOLZ REJECTS CALLS FOR NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE AS COALITION GOVERNMENT COLLAPSES

The ...