German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius stated in a video to SPD members that he is not available as a candidate for chancellor. He was previously positioned by parts of the party as a replacement for the ailing Olaf Scholz.
“Olaf Scholz is the right candidate for chancellor,” he said in a video message on Thursday. He did not consider running for office. Scholz represents what is needed now, namely experience and caution. He called on party members to stand behind Scholz.
He will enter the election campaign together with the party. Pistorius emphasized that he is looking forward to a second term as defense minister. “Let us fight together and unitedly for a second term for the Social Democratic Chancellor Olaf Scholz.”
After a controversial public debate, the way is now clear for Chancellor Olaf Scholz to run for chancellor again. According to information from the German Press Agency, the nomination will take place on Monday during a meeting of the party board.
Scholz was unconvincing
After the collapse of the traffic light coalition, an increasingly loud debate arose within the SPD about whether it would not be better to participate in the race with Pistorius. Given his significantly higher popularity ratings and his supposed better election chances, more and more SPD politicians at local, state and federal levels had openly spoken out in favor of him.
The SPD leadership had supported Scholz, but after the decision to call new elections on February 23, they initially refrained from nominating him as a candidate for chancellor. The public debate started with a statement by Rolf Mützenich, leader of the SPD, that there was “rumbling” within the party about the K issue.
The SPD collapsed completely in surveys:
The Minister of Defense allowed speculation
Pistorius made no attempt to stop them for days. On the contrary: “In politics you should never exclude anything, no matter what it is about,” the SPD politician said on Monday at an event organized by the Bayern Media Group in Passau.
“The only thing I can definitively rule out is that I will become pope,” he added with a wink. However, Pistorius then also said about the candidacy for chancellor: “It is not in my life plans and, to be honest, it does not have to be.”
Scholz himself had already made his claim in July, when the rupture of the traffic light coalition was still far away: “As chancellor, I will run to become chancellor again,” he said at the time. He had not repeated this so clearly in recent days – obviously so as not to give the impression that he wanted to choose for himself.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
