German Parliament Dissolved, Early Elections Scheduled for February 23

Investing.com -- German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has dissolved the national parliament and announced early elections to be held on February 23. This move officially supports Chancellor Olaf Scholz's plan that terminated the coalition government last month.

Social Democrat Scholz ended the three-party alliance he formed with the Greens and the Free Democrats after removing Finance Minister Christian Lindner from his position due to a disagreement over government borrowing. This unexpected move left Scholz without a majority in Germany's lower house, the Bundestag, paving the way for national elections seven months before the end of his four-year term.

With less than two months until the election, the main opposition conservatives led by Friedrich Merz are significantly ahead in the polls. Scholz’s SPD party currently stands third, trailing behind the far-right Alternative for Germany party, while the Greens occupy the fourth position.

The Greens currently hold about 13% of the votes, while Lindner's FDP risks failing to surpass the 5% threshold necessary to enter parliament, currently polling around 4%.

SPD co-leader Lars Klingbeil expressed his belief that the party could start closing the gap with the conservatives in January and still has the potential to emerge as the strongest party. In the previous election in 2021, the SPD managed to surpass the CDU/CSU, which received 24%, by obtaining nearly 26% of the votes in the final weeks of the campaign.