I have decided to dissolve the 20th German Bundestag to set a date for the early election on February 23, says Steinmeier in a speech, adding that "political stability in Germany is a valuable asset".
The decision was expected and follows the loss of a confidence vote in parliament by Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz in mid-December.
Social Democrat Olaf Scholz had himself requested the confidence vote, after his government with the Green Party and the liberal FDP had broken apart due to long-standing disagreements.
Before the vote, a heated debate was held in the Bundestag in Berlin. The message was clear: The Social Democrats no longer had a mandate to govern a Germany struggling with major challenges.
Germany's Next Government
The favorite to form Germany's next government is conservative CDU leader Friedrich Merz, who has launched a fierce attack on the ousted government's policies. He said he would "turn upside down" Germany's economic policy on issues such as benefits and support for the unemployed.
The political landscape in Germany is both polarized and fragmented. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AFD) and new constellations on the left mean that forming a new government after the election will be problematic. After the 2021 election, it took Scholz over two months to get a coalition government approved by the Bundestag in Berlin.
This is only the fourth time that the Bundestag has been dissolved prematurely in the post-war period.
