The president of Germany announced the dissolution of the federal parliament. The general election is scheduled for February 23rd next year.

German President Steinmeier announced the decision to dissolve the lower house of the Federal Parliament (Bundestag), with the new Bundestag election scheduled for February 23, 2025. Due to a government borrowing dispute, Chancellor Schultz dismissed Free Democratic Party Finance Minister Lindner, thereby ending the three-party coalition with the Greens and the Free Democratic Party. This unexpected move left Schultz without a majority in the German Bundestag and paved the way for a nationwide election seven months before the end of his four-year term. With less than two months to go until the vote, the main opposition Conservative Party led by Friedrich Merz is leading by a wide margin in opinion polls. Schultz's Social Democratic Party is ranked third, behind the far-right Alternative for Germany party, with the Greens in fourth place. According to the latest opinion poll averages, the center-right Union Party led by Merz has a support rate of about 31%, while the Alternative for Germany has a support rate of about 19% and the center-left Alliance Party has a support rate of 16%. The Green Party has a support rate of about 13%, while the Free Democratic Party led by Lindner only receives 4% support, which may not reach the 5% threshold needed to enter parliament. The co-leader of the Social Democratic Party, Lars Klingbeil, said he expects the party to narrow the gap with the Conservatives starting in January next year, and still believes the party can once again become the strongest. In the last election in 2021, the Social Democratic Party came from behind in the final weeks of the campaign, winning nearly 26% of the vote to beat the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union, which received 24% of the vote. "More and more citizens will ask themselves: do we want Olaf Scholz or Friedrich Merz as Chancellor?" Klingbeil said in an interview on Thursday. "We have better candidates, a better team, and a better plan." Although Steinmeier has officially dissolved the Bundestag, his term will only end after the next parliament is established. Members will continue to meet and conduct parliamentary business, with plans for two sessions before the election. Schultz's move to force early elections is not common in German politics. In West Germany, early elections have only occurred twice, and only once after the reunification of East and West Germany in 1990. Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder also a member of the Social Democratic Party, called for early elections in 2005 but ultimately lost to Angela Merkel. Merkel remained in power until the end of 2021 when Scholz took office.