By Nick Alipour
(EurActiv) — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz suggested he would be open to negotiations on an earlier election date in exchange for opposition backing on key legislation, which could trigger snap elections sooner than planned.
This marks a notable shift from Scholz’s previous announcement that he would call a vote of confidence on 15 January to hold elections “by the end of March” after his coalition government broke down on Wednesday (6 November).
Scholz said on Friday (8 November) that the “democratic” parties in parliament would have to come to an agreement on which laws could be passed by the end of the year.
“That understanding could also answer which point in time is the right one to hold the vote of confidence in the Bundestag, also with regard to a possible date for snap elections,” Scholz told journalists at an informal EU summit in Budapest on Friday.
He said the discussion on the election date would have to proceed “with calm.”
Prior to this, Scholz had resisted demands to hold an immediate vote of confidence at a meeting on Thursday with Friedrich Merz, the CDU/CSU leader and frontrunner in the election, according to Merz.
Scholz cannot be constitutionally forced to hold a vote of confidence and subsequent elections before the slated election date on 28 September 2025. However, his minority government is dependent on opposition votes to pass any remaining legislation.
Scholz refused to detail whether there were specific laws that he would insist on in order to agree to earlier elections.
But shortly after Scholz’s statement, it emerged that Germany’s Federal Returning Office had warned the chancellor against holding elections too early.
Ruth Brand, the agency’s leader, said that setting “dates and deadlines” during the Christmas season or New Year’s Eve would make important election preparations “virtually impossible to realise.”
A snap election must be called within 60 days after the dissolution of the parliament, which has to follow within 21 days of a vote of confidence.