Germany’s president dissolves parliament, sets national election for Feb. 23

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Friday ordered parliament dissolved and set new elections for Feb. 23 in the wake of the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s governing coalition.

“Therefore I am convinced that for the good of our country new elections are the right way.”

Key issues include immigration, how to get the sluggish economy going, and how best to aid Ukraine in its struggle against Russia.

Leaders of several major parties agreed earlier on the election date of Feb. 23, seven months earlier than originally planned.

Scholz lost a confidence vote on Dec. 16 and leads a minority government after his unpopular and notoriously rancorous three-party coalition collapsed on Nov. 6 when he fired his finance minister in a dispute over how to revitalize Germany’s stagnant economy.

“It is precisely in difficult times like these that stability requires a government capable of taking action and a reliable majority in parliament,” he said as he made the announcement in Berlin.

The populist, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, or AfD, which is polling strongly, has nominated Alice Weidel as its candidate for chancellor but has no chance of taking the job because other parties refuse to work with it.

The campaign is already well underway.

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