Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a vote of confidence on Monday, setting up a federal election early next year.

Scholz demanded the confidence vote last Wednesday, after his governing coalition broke apart over his firing of finance minister, Christian Lindner, who leads the Free Democrats, or FDP.

With the FDP walking away from the coalition that included Scholz's center-left Social Democrats, or SPD, and the Greens, the chancellor could no longer muster a majority in parliament and the confidence vote and snap elections were the only way forward.

Immediately after losing the vote, Scholz formally asked President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to dissolve parliament and set an election date, which the president indicated will be Feb 23.

"If the president follows my proposal, the voters will be able to elect a new Bundestag on Feb 23," Scholz said. "That is my goal."

He is hoping the snap federal election will deliver him a majority, or at least an improvement on the 207 seats his party currently has in the 733-seat Bundestag.

But the Christian Democratic Union, or CDU, is currently well ahead, according to a poll by Politpro, with 31 percent of voters set to support it. The far-right, anti-immigration Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is second, with 18 percent, just ahead of Scholz's SPD on 16 percent. The Greens are sitting at 12 percent, and the FDP is at 5 percent.

Friedrich Merz, leader of the center-right CDU and current favorite to be the nation's next chancellor, has said he wants to significantly increase Germany's support for Ukraine in the Russia-Ukraine conflict if elected leader. He has also said he wants to improve Germany's economy, incentivize more people to join the workforce, and oversee tax cuts.

Ironically, a few AfD lawmakers said ahead of Monday's vote they would not try to bring down the government, because they did not want to see their country increase its backing of Ukraine under a new, more Russia-skeptic chancellor.

AfD lawmaker Jurgen Pohl told the Politico website: "I do not want to see Mr Merz in a position of responsibility under any circumstances."

Many experts believe the CDU, the party of former long-serving chancellor Angela Merkel, will narrowly win February's election and form a coalition with Scholz's SPD, or the Greens.

Scholz is, however, hoping his party will enjoy a surge in popularity on the back of his campaigning on social issues, investment in infrastructure, having a "prudent" attitude toward Ukraine, and support for the auto industry in its transition to electrical vehicles.

"In a democracy, it is the voters who determine the course of future politics," he said.

However, his popularity plummeted during 2024 and an Insa poll last month ranked him one of Germany's least popular politicians of all time, so it will be a long road back.