Germany’s president dissolves parliament ahead of February election

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (S’ren Stache/dpa via AP)

German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier has ordered the country’s parliament to be dissolved and set new elections for February 23 in the wake of the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s governing coalition.

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