Early evening summary
Thank you for following our liveblog on today’s historic confidence vote in the Germany’s Bundestag. Olaf Scholz handily lost the ballot, as planned, clearing the way for President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to dissolve the current parliament and call a snap election on 23 February.
The leaders of Germany’s main parties used a fractious three-hour debate to launch their campaigns. Scholz, who will again lead his Social Democrats into the election, lobbed a blistering attack against his former coalition partner, the FDP, accusing it of “weeks-long sabotage” of his government and standing in the way of essential investment to pull Germany out of economic doldrums.
Centre-right opposition leader Friedrich Merz, tipped to win the February election, welcomed the lost confidence vote and accused Scholz of weak leadership in Germany and on the European stage. “It is embarrassing how you acted in the European Union.” The EU’s top economy now embarks on a truncated election campaign that will be interrupted by the Christmas holidays. As no party is likely to win an absolute majority, bridges between the parties – not much in evidence today – will have to be built to create a viable ruling coalition.
We are now closing this blog but you can read our report on the day’s events here:
Updated
Friedrich Merz was also pleased with the outcome and said today’s debate had allowed German voters to see clearly “what the differences are between the parties”. He again defended FDP and Lindner after Scholz’s stinging sittliche Reife (moral maturity) attack and said voters would have a distinct choice also about “which political style” they preferred.
