The 'traffic light' coalition collapsed, German Government falls

(Patria) - The German Government has fallen after Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote in the Bundestag.

Out of a total of 717 votes, 207 MPs expressed confidence in Scholz, 394 voted against, while 116 abstained. Scholz needed 367 votes of confidence to "survive" the vote.

This is also the natural end of the "traffic light" coalition.

After Scholz dismissed the ministers from the Free Democrats (FDP), the MPs of this party left the majority.

Only the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens of Germany remained in power.

This vote has opened the way for early elections.

They are expected to be held on February 23 next year.

The SPD, after a trend of long-term loss of support, has started to regain the trust of German voters, albeit slowly.

Analysts expect that the next government could again be a "grand coalition" of CDU/CSU and SPD.