Scholz again Chancellor candidate: SPD is fighting for voting!

Scholz again Chancellor candidate: SPD is fighting for voting!

In a dramatic step, the SPD wants to finally end the weekly debate about the K question with the renewed nomination of Olaf Scholz as a candidate for chancellor! In the past two weeks, the party has violently argued whether the popular Defense Minister Boris Pistorius Scholz should replace after his traffic light government faltered. But Pistorius surprisingly avoided a candidacy on Thursday and thus paved the way for Scholz!

The party executive, to which Pistorius also belongs, will decide on the nomination on Monday. However, the tensions within the SPD are clearly noticeable. At the Federal Congress of the Young Socialists (Juso) there was sharp criticism of the party leadership. Juso boss Philipp Türmer spoke of a “Shit Show” and accused the chairman Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil. Esken himself admitted that the nomination was not communicated well. Klingbeil defended the procedure and asked the party to focus on the upcoming elections on February 23.

Scholz under pressure

The nomination of Scholz must be confirmed at the party congress on January 11th, which is considered a matter of form. But the pressure is enormous: Scholz has to be measured by his result from May 2021 when he was elected with 96.2 percent of the vote. Current surveys show that the SPD is between 14 and 16 percent, while Scholz falls behind Merz in popularity. The party relies on the fact that Scholz appears in the election campaign as a strong and combative candidate to survive against Merz.

Four candidates for Chancellor are competing for the first time in the history of the Bundestag elections: In addition to Scholz, this are Merz, Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck from the Greens and AfD chairman Alice Weidel, who will be nominated on December 7th. The SPD hopes that Scholz can convince the voters with his government experience and clear positions, while at the same time speculating on mistakes by the competition.