Germany's popular Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has said he will not compete to lead the Social Democratic Party in next year’s election and announced he is throwing his support behind Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s bid.
The Chancellor pulled the plug on his ruling coalition earlier this month, clearing the way for a general election, which is expected on February 23.
Mr Pistorius took himself out of contention to become the country’s next leader following a week of arguments that exposed deep divisions in his struggling party. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) is already far behind the main opposition centre-right Union bloc in polls.
While Mr Scholz has made clear for months that he intends to run for a second term and his party's leadership had made clear that it backed him, the lack of a formal nomination created space for persistent speculation that the centre-left Social Democrats might instead choose Mr Pistorius, who enjoys much higher popularity.
But speaking in a video released on Thursday night, Mr Pistorius said he had informed the SPD leadership that he is “not available for a candidacy for the office of chancellor”. He said “Olaf Scholz is a strong chancellor and he is the right candidate for chancellor”.
“I did not initiate this discussion, I did not want it and I did not bring myself into discussion for anything,” he said. “We now have a joint responsibility to end this debate.”
Social Democrat co-leader Saskia Esken was quoted by the daily Rheinische Post on Friday as saying that Pistorius's decision was “a great signal of solidarity” with the party and Mr Scholz.
The party leadership is expected to formally nominate Mr Scholz as its candidate for chancellor on Monday.
Support for the SPD has fallen to about 16 per cent in national polls, compared with almost 26 per cent the party took in the last parliamentary election three years ago. That puts the Social Democrats third behind opposition leader Friedrich Merz’s bloc and the far-right Alternative for Germany. The Greens were at 10 per cent in an INSA poll published last weekend.
Mr Scholz lost his majority in the German parliament two weeks ago after he dismissed Finance Minister Christian Lindner, leader of the Free Democrats, in a dispute over debt-financed government spending.
Germany’s economy will hardly grow next year as underlying problems add to cyclical weakness, Mr Scholz’s independent panel of experts said last week. Gross domestic product is set to increase by just 0.4 per cent in 2025, the Council of Economic Experts forecast in a twice-yearly report. That compares with the government’s 1.1 per cent growth outlook a month ago.
“Everyone should now rally behind the Chancellor,” Anke Rehlinger, SPD state premier of Saarland, told RTL television. “He has taken responsibility for Germany, he has released the brake on progress.”
