1 week Ago By The Telegraph
Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, is under pressure to step aside as his party’s candidate for the . Christian Lindner, the former finance minister fired by Mr Scholz last week, said the election, which was , would be a foregone conclusion if Mr Scholz was to lead the Social Democrats (SPD) into the contest. “I think the race for chancellor is actually over,” Mr Lindner told a business conference, adding he was “almost certain” Friedrich Merz, the Christian Democrat (CDU) leader, would win in February.
Politicians from Mr Scholz’s own party have called for him to bow out, with two SPD Hamburg parliament members saying they were “ about the upcoming federal elections” and that Mr Scholz “failed to take people with him and communicate leadership”. They want Mr Scholz to step aside in a Joe Biden-like manner and make way for , Germany’s highly popular defence minister. Mr Pistorius holds the highest approval ratings of any German politician because of his straight-talking manner and his .
Ben Tallis, the director of the Democratic Strategy Initiative, a foreign policy think tank, said: “Boris Pistorius has shown the .” He added: “Pistorius understands Germany’s national interest and responsibility to its allies, but it’s not certain his party will let him act on that.” Mr Scholz faced mockery on Sunday after referring to himself as “cooler in matters of state” than Mr Merz, his bombastic rival.
Micky Beisenherz, the German TV presenter, compared the chancellor to Bruce Willis’s character in The Sixth Sense, saying he “goes to work every day even though he’s long dead”. Some SPD politicians have remained loyal to Mr Scholz despite his low approval ratings. One party insider said: “The SPD is allergic to revolution.
I am sure there will be no change of candidate. Scholz is stronger in the party now,” adding, “Pistorius hasn’t prepared to run, he doesn’t have connections in Berlin.” Mr Scholz received a standing ovation during a meeting of the SPD parliamentary group last week, which a rival MP described as “surreal”.
Jens Spahn, a CDU MP, told the Financial Times: “Here is Olaf Scholz, a failed chancellor, his coalition has just broken down, he’s sacked his finance minister and his SPD thinks it’s a cause for celebration?” SPD MPs were also euphoric when he fired Mr Linder following a row in the German parliament over the 2025 budget. The sacking prompted Mr Lindner to withdraw his Free Democrats (FDP) from Germany’s ruling coalition, leaving Mr Scholz in a minority government with the Green party that is . The election date was agreed by Germany’s major political parties as part of a deal that will see Mr Scholz table a confidence vote in his government on Dec 16.
If Scholz loses the vote as expected, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German president, will dissolve parliament before the election. Carsten Linnemann, the CDU general secretary, told the ZDF broadcaster on Tuesday: “People are very nervous and don’t know where the country is going.”.
