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On December 20, 2024 a Saudi national drove his car intentionally through a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, killing 5 and injuring over 200 others. One of the dead included a 9-year-old boy. The suspect is 50-year old Taleb A. He is allegedly an ex-Muslim angry at the German state for not allowing more Saudi ex-Muslims to emigrate to the country.
The attack has highlighted Germany’s growing impatience with mass immigration of peoples who don’t want to become culturally German. As of right now, the center-right appears poised to regain control of the government, but rallies in response to the attack suggest the AfD, the more conservative party, could benefit.
Germany: Magdeburg attack could shape upcoming elections – DW (English)
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Austrian nationalist Martin Sellner, a leading figure in European Identitarian networks, was one of the most prominent spreaders of the disinformation. Politicians from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) soon joined in the efforts to capitalize on the attack, in which at least five people were killed by a suspect identified as Talib A.*, a Saudi citizen who has lived in Germany since 2006 and has apparently expressed admiration for the AfD.
“Only the AfD would have deported the man long ago,” Sven Tritschler, the deputy chairman of the AfD in the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia, posted to social media.
Dominik Kaufner, an AfD member of the Brandenburg state legislature, posted to social media that “millionfold migration is the problem and millionfold remigration is the solution.”
Germany’s Prime Minister, Olaf Scholz, has asked the parliament to declare it has no confidence in him, which would move the expected February 2025 election to be moved up to January. The move comes after Scholz saw the writing on a wall as the opposition moved for a no-confidence vote.
The move comes after a member of the Left-leaning coalition departed in protest to the government’s refusal to go deeper into debt. It is expected that the center-right coalition, led by former PM Angela Merkel’s CDU party, will lead the new government, with Friedrich Merz expected to be the new PM.
Olaf Scholz: German chancellor faces confidence vote likely to lead to snap elections – CNN
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz faces a confidence vote on Monday he is expected to lose, paving the way for a snap election early next year
.Scholz himself called the vote, and if he loses, he will have to ask Germany’s president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, to dissolve parliament in a process which would trigger fresh elections. New elections must be held within 60 days of parliament being dissolved.
Scholz, who leads the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), reached an agreement with opposition parties to hold an early federal election on February 23.
Last month, Germany’s governing coalition collapsed after disagreements over the country’s weak economy led Scholz to sack his finance minister, Christian Lindner, leaving him in a minority government with the Green Party. Lawmaking has largely ground to halt since the government’s collapse.
Scholz initially announced that he planned to hold a confidence vote on January 15, but he came under immediate pressure from the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party to hold them sooner.
Germany’s Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius, may have seen the polls that show Union (the former center-right coalition led by now-retired Angela Merkel) is far ahead of the left coalition led by the Social Democrats under Olaf Scholz. The Minister has removed his name from consideration, leaving Sholtz to face the defeat as the coalition’s banner holder.
Germany’s Defence Minister Bows Out, Paving Scholz’s Path for Re-election – devdiscourse.com
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Germany’s Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has effectively cleared the runway for Chancellor Olaf Scholz to seek re-election by removing himself as a potential candidate for the nation’s top position.
Pistorius took to video Thursday night to affirm his support for Scholz, saying that he is not in the running for chancellor candidacy. This development has dispelled speculation that Pistorius might challenge Scholz, who has the backing of the Social Democrats’ leadership.
The move comes amidst the backdrop of public disputes that have marred the Social Democrats’ standing, with polls showing them lagging behind the opposition Union. Meanwhile, rival parties have already nominated Friedrich Merz and Robert Habeck to lead their respective campaigns.
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The expected German elections in February 2025 could see the party of Angela Merkel, the so-called centre-right coalition called the “Union” come back to power if early polls are right.
Germany election 2025 tracker: who’s ahead in the polls? – economist.com
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The political home of Angela Merkel, chancellor for 16 years until 2021, Germany’s principal centre-right force is an alliance of the CDU and its Bavarian sister party, the CSU. Often referred to as the “Union”, the CDU/CSU is miles ahead in the polls. Its joint candidate, Friedrich Merz, became the head of the CDU in his third bid for the job in 2022. After a long career in politics Mr Merz left in 2009 for a stint as a corporate lawyer and an executive at the German arm of BlackRock, an asset manager, before making a surprise return in 2018. Mr Merz would govern to Mrs Merkel’s right on migration and other issues, and take a much more hawkish line on Russia than Mr Scholz. He is more popular than his SPD rival, but struggles to appeal to women and younger voters.
Germany’s current PM Olaf Scholz is effectively a man without a government after his coalition government collapsed in the face of increasing outrage from Germans unsatisfied with what seems like an intentional sabotage of their country in the interests of globalists, not German citizens.
The collapse came less than 24 hours after President Trump won re-election. Scholz fired finance minister and leader of the Free Democratic Party after economic talks collapsed. Calls for a vote of confidence against Schultz, in addition to calls for Shultz to resign, have only increased even after a date was set for new election on February 23.
Germany facing snap election as Olaf Scholz loses grip on power – thetimes.com
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Olaf Scholz has rejected a demand to trigger the end of his chancellorship this week but said he was open to holding a confidence vote before Christmas, setting the stage for a snap election early next year.
Germany’s leader is under pressure from all sides to bring a swift resolution to the country’s political crisis as Europe struggles to muster a coherent response to the imminent presidency of Donald Trump.
Scholz’s three-party “traffic-light” coalition fell to pieces less than 24 hours after the US election last week when he fired the finance minister and leader of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) after talks over the economy broke down.
As a result, the coalition between his Social Democrats party (SDP), the Greens and the neo-liberal FDP no longer holds a majority.
Scholz’s hope had initially been to buy time by announcing a vote of confidence in the Bundestag — the established mechanism for removing a sitting chancellor — on January 15.
Germany Sets Election Date for February 23rd Following Coalition Collapse – eutoday.net
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Germany will head to the polls on February 23rd. The announcement comes after the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the opposition reached an agreement on Tuesday, less than a week after the ruling coalition administration disintegrated, throwing the government into a state of uncertainty.
With the coalition’s collapse, Germany now faces a period of rapid political realignment as parties prepare for a potentially transformative election.
The Collapse of the Coalition Government
The sudden disbanding of the coalition government marks a significant political rupture in German politics. Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who had led a coalition formed by his own Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Greens, and the Free Democratic Party (FDP), faced challenges that proved insurmountable.
The coalition, in place since 2021, had struggled with internal divisions and disagreements over policies on energy, social welfare, and defence spending, all of which worsened as global issues impacted the country’s economy and stability.
Disputes on climate policies, inflationary pressures, and military funding created deep fissures within the coalition, with each party unwilling to compromise on core issues that reflected their values and electoral promises.
Olaf Scholz could face pre-Christmas confidence vote after collapse of his coalition – theconversation.com
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Germany could be heading into an election even sooner than expected after chancellor Olaf Scholz indicated that he may be willing to make concessions to bring forward a confidence vote already scheduled for January 15.
The vote, which is presumed to become a trigger for an election, was called for the new year after Scholz’s coalition government collapsed. But he has now indicated that he may concede to pressure from other parties to hold the confidence vote before Christmas. In a TV interview on November 10, he said: “If everyone sees it that way, it’s not a problem”.
When Scholz, as expected, loses the confidence vote, parliament would almost certainly be dissolved within 21 days and elections held within a further 60 days. If the original timetable held, the expectation is Germany would vote in late March. If the vote takes place before Christmas, the election will take place even sooner, possibly mid-February.
Friedrich Merz, the leader of the Christian democratic (CDU/CSU) opposition, is leading the charge for an earlier vote. The CDU/CSU is comfortably ahead in the polls and has promised to enable key legislation to pass in exchange for an immediate vote. Scholz has so far resisted and seems keen to have time to gear up for the election campaign. But he may be heading towards compromise.