Germany’s new government takes office: Inauguration Day

The German Parliament (Bundestag) will elect Germany’s new Chancellor in its plenary session on Wednesday. Olaf Scholz, SPD Member of the Bundestag and Minister of Finance in the still caretaker Federal Government, is to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU), who had held the office for four election periods since 2005. Germany’s Basic Law stipulates that the Federal Chancellor shall be elected by the Bundestag without debate. The person who receives the votes of the majority of the members of the Bundestag is elected by the members of the Bundestag. Thus, 369 votes are required for the election. The newly elected Federal Chancellor will be sworn into office after the election process and the counting of the votes. The President of the Bundestag, Bärbel Bas (SPD), is to administer the swearing in of the new chancellor and his cabinet in the plenary chamber of the Bundestag.