German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced that he will ask for a vote of confidence on Dec. 16, paving the way forward for an early parliamentary election in February.

Germany's governing coalition had long been characterized by perpetual bickering and very little progress. Ultimately, Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Finance Minister Christian Lindner found it impossible to get along.

On November 6th long-bubbling rows in Germany’s three-party coalition finally boiled over, when Olaf Scholz, the Social Democrat (spd) chancellor, fired Christian Lindner, his finance minister, leader of the liberal Free Democrats (fdp),