Parties agree 23 February vote after chancellor torpedoed the coalition government by sacking finance minister.

After decades of relative stability, the country has entered a new era of political fragmentation and will hold new elections at a precarious time.

Germany is set to hold a federal election on Feb. 23, according to sources within the parliamentary group of Scholz' social democratic party (SPD). This is earlier than Chancellor Olaf Scholz had originally proposed after his ruling coalition collapsed last week.