In the history of the Federal Republic of Germany, the so-called question of confidence has been posed five times since the German Constitution came into force in 1949. In only two cases (Helmut Schmidt in 1982 and Gerhard Schröder in 2001) did this prevail. In the three other cases (Willy Brandt in 1972, Helmut Kohl in 1982 and Gerhard Schröder in 2005) the Federal Chancellor has been denied confidence and the German Parliament as a result was dissolved. On December 11, 2024, the incumbent Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz posed the 6th question of confidence to the parliament, which subsequently withdrew its confidence on December 16, 2024. What does this mean for German politics and the parliament?
The question of confidence that finds its foundation in Sec. 68 of the German Constitution is an instrument meant for the Chancellor to verify that his policies are still being carried by parliament. He would therefore still unite a majority of their votes. A vote is held in parliament. Should the majority of parliament decide to withdraw confidence from the Chancellor, he can seek the Federal President to dissolve parliament. This would build the need for re-election. Re-election then must be held within 60 days of the dissolve. The President determines the election date. Even though the question of confidence is meant to be used to secure the majority of parliament, it can also be posed when expecting a withdrawal of confidence to then facilitate premature re-election. This was the goal with Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s question of confidence: After he sought President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to dissolve parliament, the President decided to comply with his request. Until a new government is formed, the current government remains competent.
The re-election date has been chosen to be February 23, 2025. This precedes the regular end of the legislation period and former election date by 7 months. There will be no election held in September 2025. This has important implications for German citizens living abroad who want to participate in the election.
All rightful voters who do not have a registered address in Germany have the option of voting by mail election after being entered in the voter directory. The completed postal voting documents must arrive at the local German election office by February 23, 2025, at 6 p.m. (German local time).
To make sure that despite these short time frames, as many Germans abroad as possible can cast their votes in time, the German Missions Abroad have established the option to participate in a special courier service. Voters can submit their completed election documents in person by February 17, 2025, at the Consulate General in Montréal until 10:00 a.m. The completed mail election documents can also be sent to the competent local German election office by private mail or courier services.
Further information can be found directly on the website of the German missions abroad in Canada.
The law firm SNP Canada Ltd. is your competent partner in all German legal matters. You can find further information on our website www.snp-canada.com.