Chancellor Olaf Scholz hopes his decision to put a confidence vote to parliament will allow voters to "set the political course" of Germany, as he faced lawmakers ahead of Monday's vote widely expected to trigger early elections on February 23.

BERLIN (AP) — Chancellor Olaf Scholz faces a confidence vote in the German parliament on Monday that he's expected to lose, paving the way for the European Union's most populous member and biggest economy to hold an early election in February.

Polls suggest that a February election would result in a rightward shift, at a moment when Europe’s largest economy is faltering.