According to current opinion polls, Germany’s Conservative Union, led by chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz, has a strong lead in the race with 31% support. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) came in second place with 19%, while Scholz’s center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) came in third with 17%.
Merz has pulled the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) sharply to the right on issues such as immigration and energy. If he and his conservatives win the election, it could be Germany’s sharpest shift to the right in decades, but the next coalition government is likely to include at least one center-left party. Therefore, it is likely that these changes will be moderated to some extent.
Mr Steinmeier’s move to dissolve parliament is the latest step in a highly orchestrated process leading up to February’s elections, with Germany’s leaders warning that elections will be held immediately after the collapse of the coalition government in November. Agreed. The breakdown led to a vote of confidence in December, which the prime minister predictably lost.
Aimed to prevent the kind of political chaos that enabled the rise of the Nazis during the Weimar Republic, Germany’s constitution includes a series of provisions aimed at making the dissolution of the government as stable and orderly as possible. is included. The German president first had to approve Scholz’s request to dissolve parliament and hold early elections at an agreed date.
The final procedural steps have now been completed and an intense and intensified campaign is set to take place over the coming weeks. Germany’s economic downturn, the war in Ukraine, and immigration are likely to be key issues.
The relatively strict standards of German politics have already made this campaign unusually heated.
