German Chancellor Olaf Scholz today asked the parliament to vote for confidence in the government on Monday, December 16, which in case of no confidence will allow early parliamentary elections to be held in February.

If Scholz loses confidence, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will decide whether to dissolve the Bundestag. He has 21 days to make that decision, and after the dissolution of parliament, elections must be held within 60 days.

Polls show Scholz's party lagging behind Friedrich Merz's main centre-right opposition bloc. Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck, whose Greens are further behind, is also vying for the chancellor's top job. The far-right Alternative for Germany, which is gaining strength according to the polls, has proposed Alice Weidel as its candidate for chancellor, but it has almost no chance of success, as all other parties refuse to cooperate with her.

Germany has not held a government confidence vote since 2005, when then-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder lost confidence, leading to snap elections, narrowly won by Angela Merkel.