The board of the Social Democratic Party of Germany has unanimously decided to nominate the current head of government, Olaf Scholz, as a candidate for the post of chancellor in the upcoming early elections to the Bundestag.
This was announced on November 25 by SPD co-chair Saskia Esken.
Her words are quoted by TASS .
What the SPD said about Scholz's nomination as chancellor candidate
According to Esken, Scholz's candidacy must now be approved by the party congress, which will take place on January 11.
In the situation in which our country, Europe and the world find themselves, Scholz is the right chancellor for Germany, said the SPD co-chair.
In November, the ruling coalition in Germany fell apart. The remaining Greens and SPD do not have a majority in parliament.
On December 16, the Bundestag will vote on confidence in the government. Early elections could take place on February 23 next year.
After the coalition collapsed, Scholz made it clear that he planned to run for chancellor in the next elections. In the end, the majority of the SPD leadership supported him, but for some time there was uncertainty around this issue: some of the party's core and deputies supported the candidacy of former Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.
On 21 November, Pistorius announced that he would not run for prime minister and expressed his support for Scholz.
At the same time, Scholz's return to the post of chancellor is considered unlikely: the SPD is inferior in popularity to both the CDU/CSU bloc, whose candidate is expected to be CDU leader Friedrich Merz, and the Alternative for Germany party.
One of the most likely outcomes of the Bundestag elections in this alignment of forces will be a grand coalition of the SPD and the CDU/CSU. In this case, Merz will head the government, and Scholz will be able to lay claim to one of the key ministries.
For reference
Olaf Scholz is a German politician and statesman, Federal Chancellor of Germany since December 8, 2021.
