Germany Set for February Election After Bundestag Dissolved (1)

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier dissolved parliament and set the country’s snap election for Feb. 23, formally endorsing a timetable proposed by Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Scholz, of the center-left Social Democrats, ended his three-party alliance with the Greens and Free Democrats last month, when he sacked FDP Finance Minister Christian Lindner in a dispute over government borrowing. The surprise move stripped the chancellor of his majority in the lower house, or Bundestag, and paved the way for a national ballot seven months before the scheduled end of his four-year term.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier announces the decision to dissolve the German Bundestag.

Photographer: Sren Stache/DPA/Getty Images

“Especially in difficult times like now, an effective government ...