Olaf Scholz’s return trip from the G20 to Rio de Janeiro will certainly be accompanied by some turbulence. Growing political turmoil has left leaders of the German Social Democratic Party divided over who will bid for the chancellorship.
A possible official decision on Scholz’s candidacy was expected to be made by the end of the month, but it is possible that this decision will be brought forward to put an end to rising tensions that risk further damage to the party. Scholz is determined to run again, but he knows there will be no consensus on his name. During the G20 summit in Brazil, the SPD leader avoided directly responding to questions about his candidacy. In an interview with Die Welthe simply said: “The SPD and I want to win this election together.” But the problem is that according to polls, if he is at the head of the party, the election can only be lost.
A creaking confidence
SPD leaders have so far supported Scholz as a candidate in the national elections. But calls have grown for him to give way to a more popular candidate. On Monday, two federal MPs from North Rhine-Westphalia, Dirk Wiese and Wiebke Esdar, were among the first to openly question the chancellor’s re-election bid. According to them, it is vital to “identify the best possible political team” to enter the early elections.
Compete kanzlerThe person who is now less popular than ever is, above all, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. A staunch politician who describes himself as a “soldier of the party” and who, lately, no longer rules out the option of entering the field: he has repeatedly declared that this was never in his plans, “but in politics you cannot rule out anything. I cannot rule out that I will never be Pope.”
A third name has also been floating around Berlin in the last few hours: Labor Minister Hubertus Heil, who has a more acceptable profile in the east of the country than his counterpart responsible for rearming Germany and supporting Ukraine against Vladimir. Putin’s. The states of the former East Germany are influenced by populists who are strong on stopping arms shipments to Ukraine and urging the parties to negotiate at all costs.
Crisis in the polls
Polls regarding the early elections to be held on February 23 do not please the Social Democrats either kanzler. Personal support for Pistorius, who appears to be one of the country’s most popular politicians, even more so than Friedrich Merz, leader of the popular CDU, has 66 percent personal support compared to 18 percent for Scholz. As for party support, the SPD is weakening at 15%, while the conservative alliance of the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) remains the main force with a stable 33% of the vote and has a clear advantage over its rivals. .
As former leader Sigmar Gabriel emphasized, surveys show that the party’s base is increasingly critical: “Resistance against Scholz is increasing at the base. Bold policies are needed now.” The leadership debate will culminate on November 30, when the official candidate will be announced in a speech to members. Scholz hopes to win the party’s support, but many fear his candidacy will further weaken the chances of the SPD, which is already under pressure after the collapse of the coalition on 6 November.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
