Germany will go to the polls on Sunday, February 23 after A. Capture It was called in December after the collapse of the coalition government, led by Counselor Olaf Schools.

The main issues of voters in these parliamentary elections will be the state of economics, immigration and Ukraine’s war with Russia.

A survey on February 12th by the Politico News outlet showed that the main opposition – the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian brother party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) – are currently leading opinion polls with the support of 29 per cent of the voters, followed by the right -wing alternative fur Deutschland ( AFD (which has 21 percent.

In the same poll, the Social Democratic Party in Schools (SPD) ranked third by 16 percent, followed by the 90/Green coalition, which is usually referred to as Greens, by 12 percent.

Al-Jazeera, the novice Endre Bourbat of the Institute of Political Science at Robrich Carlis-UNESTTATTATTATTATESTATELARBberg, told Al-Jazeera that the return of CDU, which ruled Germany for 16 years until 2021 under the leadership of former Chancellor Angela Merkel before losing the last elections, was “this is not surprising.” .

“Because of the war in Ukraine, and the resources that were required to support the Ukrainian side in this conflict, the government’s priorities had to be reduced,” he said.

Here is everything you need to know about the upcoming elections.

Why was the sudden elections called in Germany?

In November 2024, the ruling coalition in Germany, a tripartite alliance between the Democratic Party, the Greens and the Free Democratic Party (FDP), collapsed, after disputes over the country’s weak economy, prompting Schulz to Schulz. His Minister of Finance for himChristian Lindner of the FDP party.

After months of quarrels, Schulz said that he fired Lindner because of his blockage of the country’s budget, and accused him of placing the party in front of the country and prohibiting legislation for false reasons, prompting FDP to leave the government.

“Often, he participated in small political tactics. The counselor said about Lindner:” I have broken my confidence several times. “

For his part, Lindner said that the advisor tried to wipe him in breaking the boundaries of the constitutional spending, known as the debt brakes, a step that the financial falcon refused to support it.

In December, a vote was made in a trust in Parliament, What was lost by SchulzThe road to the parliamentary elections paved February 23.

What are the main parties competing for these elections?

The country has two groups for the middle party. Schon’s SPD and conservative alliance, which includes CDU and CSU.

In recent years, these parties have lost support, while the smallest parties on both sides of the political spectrum, including vegetables and far -right AFD, have gained support.

Besides these players, the FDP, a pro -market political party, the neoliberal oath, the left -wing Link, and the Sahra Wagenknecht alliance (BSW) also working in the elections.

Who are the main leaders of the party and what do they offer?

Olaf Schools, Social Democratic Party (SPD)

Schools, 66, the current German advisor, is running again in the upcoming elections after Bondstag divided it in December 2021 after he was a candidate for continuity after the departure of former German counselor Angela Merkel, who was a 16 -year consultant.

During the state of Schulz as a consultant, he led the country through many local and European issues, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

However, with the intensification of conflicts between members of his three -way alliance on the national budget, the popularity of Schulz has declined. As of January, only 31 percent of people said they agreed to Schulz as a country leader, according to the STISTISTA.

Friedrich Mirz, Christian Democrats

Friedrich Mirz, 69, CDU leader, is a familiar face inside the conservative bloc where he joined the youth arm of the party when he was a young man and made his way in the ranks.

From 2000 to 2002, Mirz served as a party leader but lost the position of Merkel, who later went to become the first adviser in Germany’s history and has the longest time in his post.

But Mirz was often criticizing Merkel and offered what many saw as a more conservative and friendly approach to business than the former German leader, who had more medium -centered views and opened Germany’s borders to refugees in 2015. Others, especially on the right of the political spectrum. It has also become less popular in recent years.

Until now, Mirz promised to stop what he called illegal immigration, and pledged to “tolerate the crime” and said that he would reflect the legalization of marijuana.

As CDU is currently progressing in opinion polls, Merz tends to win the elections.

But in late January, Drew Mirz Controversy When setting a movement that is not binding on the German parliament to enhance border controls and accelerate the deportation. The movement moved with the support of AFD, broke the protection wall long ago prevented the prevailing parties from cooperating with the far right, and Merkel pushed Mirz publicly. It was the first time that the far -right party was relied upon to pass legislation in Germany.

Despite the help of the extreme right, Mirz told the CDU conference earlier this month that he would not cooperate with AFD and make the party as small as possible. “

But Burbeth, the professor, said that breaking the protection wall helped AFD achieve a kind of “normalization” in German policy. It was a “warning sign”.

“I think it may also reflect a kind of deliberate strategy in the sense of testing this type of societal climate, the discourse of discourse, and seeing what will happen, if there is a kind of coordination with AFD, or AFD should be considered an ordinary political party.”

How does the German electoral system work?

The general elections are called every four years, with these elections originally in September 2025.

On Sunday, German citizens will vote twice: once for a local member in Parliament, and secondly, for a party.

This system means that, along with the winning local deputy, each party also sends a number of deputies to the federal parliament (Bundestag) based on the share of the vote they obtained in the second vote.

The second vote is the most important and is widely reported on the election night, as it determines the number of seats that a party in general in Bundestag and the party’s strength within the government.

There are 630 parliamentary seats for the seizure, which will be distributed proportional to the second sounds.

A coalition government is likely to be formed because it is rare for one party to win an absolute majority. The only time that one party got the majority, the parliamentary period was from 1957 to 1961 when CDU/CSU won the elections in West Germany.

Whatever the party that inhibits the largest number of votes, it will nominate a candidate as a consultant, and the new Bundestag will vote. The candidate must secure an absolute majority to take the constitutional oath as a new leader of the country.

What time does the polling stations open?

The polling stations will be open from 8 am (07:00 GMT) to 6 pm (17:00 GMT) on Sunday when you are expected to expect the results of the exit survey.

The initial results are expected to start coming within half an hour after the closure of opinion polls, and the final results are usually determined overnight.

What are the main issues?

Ukraine

Most of the major parties, including SPD, CDU and Greens support for providing aid to Ukraine amid its war for nearly three years with Russia, but Schulz has followed a more cautious approach to others and also emphasizes the need for diplomacy.

On the contrary, AFD and BSW called for the end of weapons delivery to Ukraine and the resumption of relations with Moscow.

Germany is the second highest supporter of war efforts in Ukraine after the United States.

According to the German government, in 2024 Germany provided military assistance to Ukraine worth about 7.1 billion euros ($ 7.4 billion).

Last week, the German news broadcaster, ZDF, published a poll that found that 67 percent of the Germans support the government’s military support to Ukraine.

economy

The issue of whether the debt brakes that are constantly for Germany will be repaired to allow increased public spending is an essential issue for these elections.

According to German law, the state may only spend a lot of money collected in taxes.

But the debt break allows the government to borrow up to 0.35 percent of the country’s GDP (GDP) in emergency situations, as is the case during the Covid-19s.

Now, The Greens and Scholz called for the repair of debt brakes to enable larger public spending.

Mirz has indicated some openness to this, but he is still cautious. “I have always said that you can discuss this, but it is definitely not at first,” he said to have a televised discussion with Schools last week.

He said: “First, the potential for savings and growth comes as well as the budget budgets that need urgent.”

AFD and FDP are strong defenders of the maximum general borrowing.

AFD also wants Germany to stop using the euro, re -submit Deutschmark, the national currency used last time in 2002, and may leave the European Union.

Migration

Almost all parties called for more striking measures on immigration after a number of attacks on the crowd, such as an accident in December Christmas marketFive people were killed.

• CDU has called for more stringent border controls, family reunification and naturalization of refugees.
• AFD is the extreme right -wing of the border and has the right to re -assemble the family in asylum seekers.
• SPD pushed to impose strict border controls and deportation for people who entered the country through irregular means, for example, by boat. However, at the same time, he also wants to bring more foreign skilled workers.
• The Green Party is a single voice that preserves the policy of open doors and pressure for state -backed sea saving initiatives, simplifying family reunification and enhancing the integration of refugees into German society.

However, Borbath said that after the Afghan asylum seeker A car pushed a crowd in Munich On Thursday, most parties are likely to tighten their position on immigration.

“No party says” Yes, immigration is needed “and that” immigration is good “… so I think, in this sense, that the AFD effect is more clear than in the process of making policy … this normalization is AFD, one of the critical voices of migration that It was mostly associated with AFD, [is] “It has become more prevalent, normalized and also lied by left or left -wing forces,” he said.