Olaf Scholz loses confidence vote, snap election in February

Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote in the German parliament on Monday.

As a result, early elections will be held in Germany, the European Union's most populous country, in February 2025.

The leaders of several major parties have agreed to hold parliamentary elections on February 23, seven months earlier than originally planned.

Scholz won the support of 207 lawmakers in the 733-seat lower house of parliament in the confidence vote.

While 394 voted against him, 116 abstained.

This left him far short of the 367-member majority needed to win.

Confidence votes are rare in Germany, a country of 83 million people. This is the sixth time in post-war history that a chancellor has called a confidence vote.

The last time was in 2005, when then-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder called a snap election, which was narrowly won by center-right candidate Angela Merkel.

Political analysts say the next government in Germany will be a challenge in terms of performance and political cooperation.