Chancellor Olaf Scholz is under increased pressure within his Social Democratic Party (SPD) to abandon the race for re-election in February’s early vote due to his unprecedented unpopularity and the existence of a more promising candidate. This Tuesday, November 19, the former leader of the SPD Norbert Walter-Borjans distanced himself from the chancellor, currently in Brazil where he is participating in a G20 summit, demanding “rapid clarification” of the question of SPD candidacy for chancellor, in daily interview Rheinische Post.
His voice joins those of two very influential social democratic deputies from North Rhine-Westphalia (west), Wiebke Esdar and Dirk Wiese. In a text relayed by the German media, the latter note that the “image” of Olaf Scholz “is closely linked” to that of his unpopular coalition with the Greens and the liberals, which was shattered on November 6 after protests. months of open arguments over the budget and the economy.
The chancellor, now at the head of a minority government with the environmentalists, will submit to a vote of confidence in the Bundestag on December 16, which he is expected to lose, which will open the way to elections on February 23, 2025. Even if the two social democratic deputies judge that his results will undoubtedly be judged “more positively” with hindsight, they underline: “We hear a lot of approval” within the party in favor of Boris Pistorius, the Minister of Defense.
Replaced by Boris Pistorius?
So far, SPD leaders officially continue to support Olaf Scholz. “He is our chancellor and our candidate for chancellor,” SPD co-leader Saskia Esken repeated on Monday. But these demonstrations of support have so far failed to calm the debate on the relevance of his candidacy, first launched at the local level and which is now spreading to the national level.
The latest representative barometer of Insa popularity published Tuesday by the daily Bild reinforces their arguments: the chancellor was demoted from 19th to 20th and last place, while Boris Pistorius remains at the top of the ranking of all political colors combined. The energetic 64-year-old minister, who describes himself as “a deeply loyal man”, has so far endorsed the official party line, without excluding anything. “The only thing I can definitively rule out is becoming pope one day,” he joked Monday evening to the press.