BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Olaf Scholz faces a confidence vote in the German parliament on Monday that he's expected to lose, paving the way for the European Union's most populous member and biggest economy to hold an early election in February.
Scholz's notoriously rancorous three-party government collapsed on Nov. 6 when the chancellor fired his finance minister in a long-running dispute over how to revitalize Germany’s stagnant economy, and the minister's pro-business party quit the coalition. That left the remaining two center-left partners without a majority in parliament.
Leaders of several major parties then agreed that a parliamentary election should be held on Feb. 23, seven months earlier than originally planned. Post-World War II Germany's constitution doesn't allow parliament's lower house, or Bundestag, to dissolve itself — so a confidence vote is needed to set in motion the early election.
Scholz's Social Democrats hold 207 seats in the Bundestag and are expected to vote for the chancellor. Their remaining coalition partners, the environmentalist Greens, have 117 and plan to abstain. That should mean Scholz gets nowhere near the majority of 367 in the 733-seat chamber needed to win the confidence vote.
If Scholz loses, it will up to up to President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to decide whether to dissolve the Bundestag. Steinmeier, who said last month that “this country needs stable majorities and a government that is capable of acting,” has 21 days to make that decision. Once parliament is dissolved, the election must be held within 60 days.
In practice, the campaign is already well underway.
As he formally requested the confidence vote on Wednesday, Scholz said that voters will “decide in the election how we answer the big questions that we face.”
Those, he said, include whether Germany decides to “invest strongly in our future,” secure jobs and modernize its industry, keep pension levels stable and “come closer to a just peace in Ukraine without Germany being drawn into the war.” Germany has become Ukraine’s biggest military supplier in Europe, but Scholz also has refused to supply long-range Taurus cruise missiles over concerns of escalating the war with Russia.
Center-right challenger Friedrich Merz on Saturday predicted “one of the hardest election campaigns” in modern German history, as Scholz's Social Democrats “have their backs to the wall.” He said that it's crucial to make the economy more competitive, because “the competitiveness of our economy is the precondition for everything else.”
Polls show Scholz’s party trailing behind Merz's main opposition Union bloc. Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, whose Greens are further back, is also bidding for the top job.
The far-right Alternative for Germany, 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.
Confidence votes are rare in Germany, a country of 83 million people that prizes stability. This is only the sixth time in its postwar history that a chancellor has called one.
The last was in 2005, when then-Chancellor Gerhard Schröder engineered an early election that was narrowly won by center-right challenger Angela Merkel.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz leaves after a statement after formally asking for a vote of confidence in parliament, to set the path for an early election in spring 2025, at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, right, speaks with Vice Chancellor and Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck, left, during the cabinet meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz makes a statement after formally asking for a vote of confidence in parliament, to set the path for an early election in spring 2025, at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
The griping Vatican-based thriller “Conclave” about picking a new pope and Stephanie Hsu starring in the dark comedy “Laid” as a woman whose former lovers keep unexpectedly dying are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you.
Also among the streaming offerings worth your time as selected by The Associated Press’ entertainment journalists: Dwayne Johnson stars as Santa’s bodyguard in the movie “Red One,” internet star MrBeast hosts his own reality competition show on Prime Video called “Beast Games” and Little Big Town host a Christmas special on NBC.
– What goes on inside the Vatican before white smoke flows out of the Sistine Chapel? “Conclave” (streaming now on Peacock), about the election of a new pope, is a gripping thriller that imagines how the gathering of cardinals could go. The film, directed by Edward Berger and based on Robert Harris’ 2016 novel, stars Ralph Fiennes as the cardinal tasked with running the conclave. Nominated for six Golden Globes, “Conclave” is a major Oscar contender and one of the rare recent adult-oriented dramas to succeed at the box office. In her review, AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr called it “a deliriously fun watch in the way that tense, smart thrillers with an ensemble of great actors can be.”
– It was easy to miss Clint Eastwood’s “Juror No. 2” in cinemas, but the 94-year-old’s latest arrives Friday, Dec. 20 on Max. And “Juror No. 2,” despite its small theatrical footprint, has been much praised by critics. In it, Nicholas Hoult plays a juror in a murder trial who’s struggling with a moral dilemma.
– A sled-full of new Christmas movies arrive every year, with hopes of establishing themselves as a new holiday classic. Of them, “Red One” (now streaming on Prime Video) is distinguished by being the biggest, most garishly wrapped one yet. In the $250 million movie, Dwayne Johnson stars as the bodyguard for a more militaristic Kris Kringle (J.K. Simmons), who teams up with a deadbeat hacker (Chris Evans) to rescue Santa after he’s kidnapped. In my review, I wrote that “there is ample time during ‘Red One’ to ponder who, exactly, put a Marvel-ized Santa on their wish list.”
– Mati Diop’s “Dahomey,” one of the year’s nonfiction highlights, is not to be missed. Diop, the French Senegalese director of “Atlantics,” documents the return of 26 art works seized by French troops during the 1890s from the African kingdom (now southern Benin). In the film, currently streaming on Mubi, Diop casts a wide and fantastic net in chronicling their voyage home, with a wide array of voices debating the ethics and meaning of reparations — including even those of the Dahomey treasures, themselves.
— AP Film Writer Jake Coyle
— ’Twas the week before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. That is, until Monday, when “Little Big Town’s Christmas at the Opry” airs on NBC, available to stream on Peacock the following day! What says “happy holidays” more than some of country music’s modern greats bringing their twang from the famous Nashville stage to the family living room? A group of great guests, probably – and those include Dan + Shay, Kelsea Ballerini, Sheryl Crow, Kirk Franklin, Josh Groban, Kate Hudson and Orville Peck.
— AP Music Writer Maria Sherman
— A new docuseries on Apple TV+ reveals the habits and behaviors of animals in the wild. Filmmakers spent three years tracking 77 unique species in 24 countries, and capturing everything from jumping spider courtship dances to a killifish in Trinidad breathing through its tail when out of the water. Hugh Bonneville narrates “The Secret Lives of Animals, " debuting Dec. Wednesday.
— Stephanie Hsu stars in a new dark comedy for Peacock as Ruby, a woman whose former lovers keep unexpectedly dying in mysterious, outrageous ways. Ruby and her best friend AJ (Zosia Mamet, doing her wry observational bit) dig into the past to make sense of what’s happening and save lives. The process prompts Ruby to learn hard truths about herself. “Laid” is based on an Australian series. There are also a number of fun guest stars including Finneas O’Connell, Chloe Fineman and Josh Segarra. “Laid” premieres Thursday on Peacock.
— Internet star MrBeast, (real name: Jimmy Donaldson) whose YouTube channel has more subscribers than any other — is now the host of his own reality competition show on Prime Video called “Beast Games.” Contestants wear tracksuits and compete in wild games for a $5 million prize. It’s like “Squid Game,” without the dying. “Beast Games” premieres Thursday on Prime Video.
— Alicia Rancilio
— Season 2 of “Squid Game” drops on Netflix the day after Christmas, but you and your family can get an early start if you’re already itching for a fight to the death. The streamer is inviting subscribers to download Squid Game: Unleashed, an online battle royale for up to 32 players. It includes familiar season 1 competitions like Glass Bridge and Red Light Green Light, as well as deadly new devices like buzzsaws, wrecking balls and lava pits. Last one to survive ... well, you don’t get any money but at least you don’t get squished. The contest begins Tuesday, Dec. 17, on iOS and Android.
— Lou Kesten
Little Big Town performs during the 92nd annual Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting ceremony, Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
This image released by Focus Features shows Ralph Fiennes in a scene from "Conclave." (Focus Features via AP)
This combination of images shows promotional art for the series "Beast Games," from left, the film "Juror #2," and "The Secret Lives of Animals." (Prime/Warner Bros./Apple TV+ via AP)
