Germany's Scholz loses confidence vote, opening way to election

Berlin: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday lost a confidence vote in parliament, paving the way for an early general election on February 23.

Out of the Bundestag deputies, 394 voted against Scholz while only 207 expressed confidence in the chancellor, with 116 abstentions. Scholz had been expected to lose the vote after his three-way coalition fell apart last month.