Germany's parliament on Monday accepted Chancellor Olaf Scholz's invitation to withdraw its confidence in him and his government, paving the way for snap elections on February 23, necessary to bring down his government.

Scholz's three-party coalition collapsed last month after the pro-market Free Democrats quit in a row over debt, leaving his Social Democrats and Greens without a parliamentary majority just as Germany faces a deepening economic crisis.

Under rules designed to avoid the instability that facilitated the rise of fascism in the 1930s, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier can only dissolve parliament and call elections if the chancellor seeks, and loses, a vote of confidence.

Only 207 out of 733 in parliament expressed their confidence, while 394 withheld it.

"The motion has been approved," said Parliament Speaker Baerbel Bas.

Merz attacks Scholz's record

The chancellor and his conservative rival Friedrich Merz clashed angrily in a debate before the vote, accusing each other of incompetence and lack of vision.

Scholz, of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), defended his record as a crisis leader who dealt with the economic and security emergency caused by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. With a second term, he said he would invest heavily in Germany's creaking infrastructure, not make the spending cuts he said the conservatives wanted.

"Myopia may save money in the short term, but the mortgage on our future is unaffordable," said Scholz, who served four years as finance minister in a previous coalition with the Conservatives before becoming chancellor in 2021

Merz, of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party formerly led by Angela Merkel, told Scholz that his spending plans would burden future generations and accused him of failing to deliver on rearmament promises after the start of the Ukrainian war.

"Go into debt at the expense of the young generation, spend money, and you didn't say the word 'competitiveness' once," said Merz.

Neither leader mentioned Germany's constitutional spending cap, a measure designed to ensure fiscal responsibility but which many economists blame for the dilapidated state of Germany's infrastructure.

After Scholz loses Monday's vote, he can ask President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who has already endorsed his schedule, to dissolve parliament. Scholz will continue as interim chancellor until a new government can be formed after elections scheduled for February 23.

Far-right AfD

The CDU has a comfortable, if narrow, lead of more than 10 points over the SPD in most polls. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is slightly ahead of Scholz's party, while the Greens are in fourth place.

The main parties have refused to govern with the AfD, but its presence complicates parliamentary arithmetic, making unwieldy three-party coalitions like Scholz's more likely.

Meanwhile, Scholz has outlined a list of measures that could be passed with opposition support before the election, including 11 billion euros (C$16.45 billion) in tax cuts and an increase in benefits for children already agreed by the former partners of the coalition.

Measures to tackle fiscal drag look less certain, while Merz said he would not support a Greens proposal to lower energy prices, saying he wants a whole new energy policy.

Robert Habeck, the Greens' chancellor candidate, said the stance was a worrying sign for German democracy, given the growing likelihood in a fractured political landscape that very different parties would have to work together in government.

"It's highly unlikely that the next government will have it any easier," Habeck said. "It is very unlikely that the Conservatives, the SPD or the Greens will get an absolute majority."

Conservatives have hinted they could support measures to better protect the Constitutional Court from the machinations of a future populist or undemocratic government and to extend a subsidized popular transport ticket.

AfD leader Alice Weidel called for all Syrian refugees in Germany to be sent back after the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's government.