With snap elections fast approaching, the parties that make up the German coalition government have decided not to ditch their current leaders, despite them having led one of the most unpopular governments in recent German history.
The Green party recently announced that vice chancellor and economy minister Robert Habeck will be their lead candidate in the elections, while the Social Democrats’ (SPD) nominee for chancellor will be the current chancellor, Olaf Scholz.
His nomination, though not yet formally announced, was practically confirmed after defence minister Boris Pistorius on Thursday, November 21st, ruled himself out of the running.
“I have just informed our party and parliamentary group leaders that I will not be standing as a candidate for the office of federal chancellor,” Pistorius said in a video posted to SPD social media channels on Thursday evening.
The defence minister was considered a possible replacement for Scholz as the SPD’s lead candidate. Pistorius is among the most popular politicians in the country.
He quickly shot to fame after being named as defence minister in January 2023, earning the respect of both the cabinet and the troops. “His hands-on, unpretentious manner and his straight talking has gone down well with the soldiers,” writes Deutsche Welle.
Pistorius played a significant part in making major arms purchases, such as urgently needed air defence systems, helicopters, tanks, and warships.
According to a poll by ZDF, if Scholz were to run against the opposition centre-right CDU’s lead candidate, Friedrich Merz, 39% of voters would want Scholz as their next chancellor, and 44% would choose Merz. In a duel between Merz and Pistorius, the latter would win easily with 59% support of the electorate, compared to 28% for Merz.
The popularity of the government as a whole has steeply declined in the three years that the coalition—consisting of SPD, the Greens, and the liberal FDP—has ruled Germany.
The cabinet has been unable to handle the cost-of-living crisis and the migration crisis. It has also angered citizens, particularly farmers, with tax hikes to accommodate a radical climate policy. The frustration of the liberal free-market FDP led to the collapse of the government, paving the way for early elections, which are to be held on February 23rd.
According to the latest polls, the SPD is set to receive 16% of the votes, a steep drop of ten points compared to the elections in 2021. The Greens will suffer a 4-point drop, and dip to 11%, while the FDP party will be lucky to enter parliament at all, as it is currently below the 5% threshold.
Meanwhile, the CDU/CSU alliance is on course for victory with 32% of the votes, and the anti-immigration Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party is polling at 19% which would give them the runners-up spot.
The decision to retain both Scholz and Habeck as lead candidates is therefore baffling.
“In Olaf Scholz, we have an outstanding federal chancellor. He has led a coalition of three parties through perhaps the biggest crisis in recent decades,” Boris Pistorius said on Thursday, failing to mention that the chancellor had not solved this crisis. In fact, the war in Ukraine is escalating rapidly as Western missiles recently struck Russia, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened the West with retaliation.
