Olaf Scholz defies call for snap election

The Telegraph:  Olaf Scholz is facing demands for a snap election in Germany after his government suffered a humiliating defeat in EU elections.

Mr Scholz’s Social Democrats, which leads the coalition government, slumped to their worst EU election result, winning just 14 per cent of the vote.

His party was comfortably beaten by the hard-Right AfD (Alternative for Germany) and the CDU mainstream conservatives formerly led by Angela Merkel

Markus Söder, the conservative governor of Bavaria, said: “This government is basically finished and we need to do what France has done.”

Emmanuel Macron, the French president, called snap parliamentary elections on Sunday night after a punishing defeat at the hands of the hard-Right National Rally.

Mr Söder, who leads the Bavarian sister party to the centre-Right Christian Democrats (CDU), added that Mr Scholz’s government “no longer has the trust of the population, that’s why there should be new elections as soon as possible”.

Markus Soederno, the conservative Bavarian leader, says Scholz "no longer has the trust of the population" - ANNA SZILAGYI/Shutterstock

Alice Weidel, co-leader of AfD, said Germany had “voted out the Chancellor” and the government in an election that saw her party surge past the Social Democrats into second place.

The Christian Democrats comfortably won the election in Germany, taking 30 per cent of the vote.

But support for the AfD surged, with the anti-immigrant party winning 16 per cent, up from 10 per cent at the last national election in 2021.

The SPD had featured the chancellor heavily in its campaigning, with placards carrying his face claiming a vote for the SPD would ensure peace on the Continent.

“There is now only one task left for Scholz: clear the way for new elections – instead of governing for another year against a large majority of the population,” Ms Weidel said.

However, Germany’s government swatted away the suggestion that elections would be held ahead of schedule.

“Why should anything have changed? We have a joint government programme, and a coalition agreement that we are working on together,” Christian Lindner, the German finance minister said on Monday.

“As long as everyone is committed to this working basis, there is no reason for a confidence vote,” added Mr Lindner, a member of the Free Democrats, a coalition partner that also lost votes. The third coalition party, the Greens, lost almost half its vote share.

Alice Weidel, the AfD co-leader, said Germany had 'voted out the Chancellor' - Annegret Hilse/REUTERS

Steffen Hebestreit, the spokesman for Mr Scholz, said that the EU election results would have no bearing on the date of the next German election.

“The regular election date is next autumn. And that’s what we plan to do,” he said.

First signs of discontent emerged from inside the Social Democrats, with Sigmar Gabriel, a former party leader, questioning whether Mr Scholz remained the right man for the job.

“With 14 per cent nobody has an uncontested claim to lead the SPD,” said Mr Gabriel, who was foreign minister under Mrs Merkel.

Malu Dreyer, a popular governor for the SPD in the south-west state of Rhineland-Palatinate, said it was “shocking and worrying that Social Democrat voters have also defected to the AfD”.

In Berlin, the CDU party secretary called for a vote of confidence on Mr Scholz.

Carsten Linnemann, the CDU general secretary, said that “if Scholz is being honest” he would put his premiership to a vote in the Bundestag to see whether he still enjoyed the backing of his three-way coalition.

The AfD is polling ahead in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandeburg. Wins in all of those states could lead to political paralysis, with other parties refusing to work with the hard-Right party.

Speaking at a memorial service in France to commemorate the massacre of civilians by SS troops in 1944, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German president, rang the alarm bell about a resurgence of nationalism on the Continent.

It was “fittingly on the day after the European elections that I say: let us never forget the damage done in Europe by nationalism and hate. Let us never forget the miracle of reconciliation the European Union has worked,” Mr Steinmeier said at a commemoration ceremony for the village of Oradour-sur-Glane.