Scholz Receives Renewed Nomination for Chancellorship in Germany
The ruling SPD party has endorsed Olaf Scholz to lead their list in the forthcoming election, following Boris Pistorius's decision to decline the position. Read Full Article at RT.com.
TroibNews 
The Social Democratic Party (SPD) has unanimously decided to endorse Olaf Scholz as their candidate for chancellor in the forthcoming general election in Germany.
Since December 2021, Scholz has led the German government as the head of the ‘traffic light’ coalition, which includes the Greens and the Free Democratic Party. The coalition faced significant challenges earlier this month when Christian Lindner of the FDP was removed from his position as finance minister.
On Monday, SPD co-leaders Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil announced that Scholz has received the party’s full support to lead the candidate list for the early election scheduled for February 23.
“It will be cold on the streets, but we have long since reached working temperature,” Esken stated to reporters in Berlin.
She characterized the upcoming campaign as a “short, sharp” confrontation, commending Scholz for being “principled and determined” and the best candidate for the role, while arguing that his main competitor, Friedrich Merz, lacks experience in governing.
Friedrich Merz, the 69-year-old nominee from the Christian Democratic Union, will face off against Scholz. Additionally, the Alternative for Germany has indicated they will nominate party leader Alice Weidel during their convention on December 7. Scholz’s former coalition partner, Robert Habeck, has also been put forward by the Greens, marking the first time in German history that four candidates will vie for the chancellorship.
The announcement from Esken and Klingbeil ended speculation regarding the possibility of the SPD nominating Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. Although recent polls have shown Pistorius to be more popular than Scholz, he announced last Thursday that he did not wish to pursue the chancellor position.
“The real story is that we have been friends for a very, very long time, that because of his competence and our friendship I asked him to become federal minister of defense, and that we now want to lead and win this election campaign together,” Scholz remarked at the press conference on Monday.
Current opinion polls reveal the CDU/CSU at 34%, the AfD at 18%, the SPD at 16%, the Greens at 12%, the FDP at 5%, and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance at 6% nationally.
Earlier in the month, a motion was introduced by 113 members of the 733-member Bundestag aiming to prohibit the AfD as a “Nazi party,” arguing that its beliefs are incompatible with the German constitution. Most supporters of the proposal were from the Greens, with 31 members from the SPD and only six from the CDU involved.
Alejandro Jose Martinez contributed to this report for TROIB News
Since December 2021, Scholz has led the German government as the head of the ‘traffic light’ coalition, which includes the Greens and the Free Democratic Party. The coalition faced significant challenges earlier this month when Christian Lindner of the FDP was removed from his position as finance minister.
On Monday, SPD co-leaders Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil announced that Scholz has received the party’s full support to lead the candidate list for the early election scheduled for February 23.
“It will be cold on the streets, but we have long since reached working temperature,” Esken stated to reporters in Berlin.
She characterized the upcoming campaign as a “short, sharp” confrontation, commending Scholz for being “principled and determined” and the best candidate for the role, while arguing that his main competitor, Friedrich Merz, lacks experience in governing.
Friedrich Merz, the 69-year-old nominee from the Christian Democratic Union, will face off against Scholz. Additionally, the Alternative for Germany has indicated they will nominate party leader Alice Weidel during their convention on December 7. Scholz’s former coalition partner, Robert Habeck, has also been put forward by the Greens, marking the first time in German history that four candidates will vie for the chancellorship.
The announcement from Esken and Klingbeil ended speculation regarding the possibility of the SPD nominating Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. Although recent polls have shown Pistorius to be more popular than Scholz, he announced last Thursday that he did not wish to pursue the chancellor position.
“The real story is that we have been friends for a very, very long time, that because of his competence and our friendship I asked him to become federal minister of defense, and that we now want to lead and win this election campaign together,” Scholz remarked at the press conference on Monday.
Current opinion polls reveal the CDU/CSU at 34%, the AfD at 18%, the SPD at 16%, the Greens at 12%, the FDP at 5%, and the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance at 6% nationally.
Earlier in the month, a motion was introduced by 113 members of the 733-member Bundestag aiming to prohibit the AfD as a “Nazi party,” arguing that its beliefs are incompatible with the German constitution. Most supporters of the proposal were from the Greens, with 31 members from the SPD and only six from the CDU involved.
Alejandro Jose Martinez contributed to this report for TROIB News
