German / Europeans…pls explain what is going on in Germany
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In Germany, head of government is the Chancellor. You get to be head of government if, in an election, your party gets the most votes. Most elections end with an outright winner, which makes majority government. However sometimes an election is very very close. So the party with the most votes doesn't have enough seats for majority government. Countries that are not America have more than 2 parties, and those minor parties do often get enough votes to get seats. So, if you got the MOST votes but not MORE THAN HALF you still win government but it's minority government. You can only pass any laws if one of those minor parties agrees to support you in having Government
Germany had such a narrow win that their minority government was only valid because TWO minor parties agreed to support. Chancellor fired a dude who was basically the single seat holding his government together. So now they are going to have a snap election.
Oh yes, and "coalition government" means government made up of a coalition of parties. Those minor parties who agree to support end up having a huge amount of power to get their policies through because if they withdraw support, government collapses. It's unusual to fire them. But oh well. Thats what happened.
Ooh boy. Aussie with a German sister but I'll give it a go https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-11-07/germany-facing-snap-election-as-scholz-coalition-crumbles/104571332 (Link first)