Germany: Olaf Scholz to be nominated as SPD candidate

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will run for a second term in the federal election in the new year after his party, the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), confirmed that they will nominate him as their lead candidate on Monday.

"We want to go into the next election campaign with Olaf Scholz," the party's co-leader Lars Klingbeil said late on Thursday.

Scholz' nomination comes after Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, currently polling as Germany's most popular politician, informed the SPD leadership that he would not be running to be the party's chancellor candidate.

"This is entirely my own, personal decision," said Pistorius, calling on colleagues to put an end to their internal disagreements as to who should lead the SPD into the snap elections, called after the current coalition government collapsed earlier in November.

"I never started this debate, I never wanted it and I never brought myself into the conversation," said Pistorius. "It is now our joint responsibility to end this debate because there is a lot at stake."

Praising Scholz for steering a difficult coalition through what he called maybe the biggest crisis of recent decades, Pistorius said: "Olaf Scholz is a strong chancellor and the right candidate for chancellor. Olaf Scholz stands for reason and prudence."

Asked by public broadcaster ZDF about his superior poll ratings, Pistorius insisted that "other barometers are more important" because poll ratings are "also fleeting" and cannot necessarily "be translated into votes on ballot papers."

What's more, he said, stripping a sitting chancellor of the candidacy would be "a poor signal to send in these times," both at home and abroad.

SPD co-chair Saskia Esken welcomed Pistorius' withdrawal, calling the decision "self-assured and a huge show of solidarity with the SPD and Chancellor Scholz."

Speaking to the Rheinische Post newspaper on Thursday night, she added: "Boris Pistorius is an outstanding defense minister and we'll be fighting this election to ensure that he can continue to hold this position in the next government, too."

mf/zc (dpa, Reuters)

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