by DW News Staff at DW
What you need to know
- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz loses confidence vote in Bundestag
- The vote paves the way for snap elections on February 23
- Scholz’s Social Democrats (SPD) are trailing behind Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in the polls
Here are the latest developments about the confidence vote on Monday, December 16:
3 hours ago
Germany lacked leadership under Scholz, says Greens’ parliamentary group leader
Olaf Scholz did not show enough leadership during his tenure as German chancellor, the Greens’ parliamentary group leader said on Monday.
“The long tugging and wrangling” over some legislative projects would have been avoidable “if our Chancellor Olaf Scholz had shown more leadership,” Britta Hasselmann said after Monday’s vote in the Bundestag.
The co-chair of the parliamentary group, Katharina Dröge, said the opposition leader Friedrich Merz (CDU) was not ready for the snap election, penciled in for February 23.
As for policies, Dröge said that the Greens wanted to ensure “that the 49-euro ticket remains a 49-euro ticket.”
The price of the ticket, which allows the holder to use public transport across many parts of Germany without extra charge, is set to increase to €58 in January.