Olaf Scholz's hopes of being re-elected as German chancellor is under threat as calls for his withdrawal intensify. Infighting within the SPD and dwindling popularity among the German people have contributed to the unprecedented move.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz is facing growing calls within his Social Democrats Party (SPD) to step aside and allow his Defence Minister Boris Pistorius to lead the party into next year’s election. He says he wants to run for a second term next year.
Scholz's snap election announcement was backed by SPD leaders this week despite the party languishing in third place behind the opposition conservatives and far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD) on around 16%, down 10 points since the 2021 election.
A survey of SPD supporters by pollster Forsa confirmed Scholz’s dwindling popularity within the supporters, with 58% of the voters backing Pistorius as chancellor candidate compared to just 30% for Scholz. However, the final decision is likely to be announced at a party congress in January.
Lesser-known, regional politicians have called for a rethink in what would be an unprecedented move - akin to that of the U.S. Democrats in July in persuading President Joe Biden to drop his re-election bid.
Critics say Scholz lack of leadership resulting in messy, belated compromises, as well as communication skills required to reassure the population, particularly in challenging times, have all contributed to infighting within the coalition. They say it has not helped the party’s nor Scholz’s ambitions as next year’s elections draw nearer.
"Scholz has made good policies over the past three years, but he has not managed to win people over and communicate leadership," two state lawmakers in Hamburg, where Scholz was mayor from 2011-2018, said in a post on Instagram.
Germany is set to hold a snap election on 23 February after Scholz's three-way coalition of SPD, the Greens and neoliberal Free Democrats Party (FDP) collapsed last week following months of infighting.
European shares dropped on Friday after President Donald Trump intensified tariff threats against the EU, casting doubt on trade talks and dampening i...
China’s exports are expected to have grown 5% in June as manufacturers hurried goods abroad ahead of a 12 August deadline that could see the U.S. re...
U.S. special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, is set to arrive in Kyiv on Monday for a week-long visit, Ukrainian outlet Novyny.LIVE reported on Frid...
Kazakhstan's Ministry of Transport and Afghanistan's Ministry of Public Works have reached an agreement on the construction of a new railway line to c...
Two of China’s biggest electric-vehicle makers may have to return a combined 373 million yuan (about $53 million) in state aid after a government au...
European shares dropped on Friday after President Donald Trump intensified tariff threats against the EU, casting doubt on trade talks and dampening investor confidence.
China’s exports are expected to have grown 5% in June as manufacturers hurried goods abroad ahead of a 12 August deadline that could see the U.S. restore punitive tariffs, a Reuters survey of economists indicates.
U.S. special envoy for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, is set to arrive in Kyiv on Monday for a week-long visit, Ukrainian outlet Novyny.LIVE reported on Friday.
Two of China’s biggest electric-vehicle makers may have to return a combined 373 million yuan (about $53 million) in state aid after a government audit said nearly 22,000 cars sold up to 2020 should never have qualified for clean-energy incentives.
Australian researchers have pioneered a low-cost and scalable plasma-based method to produce ammonia gas directly from air, offering a green alternative to the traditional fossil fuel-dependent Haber-Bosch process.
A series of earthquakes have struck Guatemala on Tuesday afternoon, leading authorities to advise residents to evacuate from buildings as a precaution against possible aftershocks.
A deadly mass shooting early on Monday (7 July) in Philadelphia's Grays Ferry neighbourhood left three men dead and nine others wounded, including teenagers, as more than 100 shots were fired.
The 17th Summit of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) was successfully held in Khankendi, Azerbaijan, highlighting the region’s revival and the deepening economic cooperation among member states.
Dozens of international and domestic flights were cancelled or delayed after Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki erupted on Monday, but Bali’s main airport remains operational.
Washington and Ottawa are once again at odds, as President Trump unveils a sharp new tariff on Canadian goods—citing drug trafficking and trade disputes just weeks ahead of a key deadline.
France recorded over 100 drowning deaths in just one month — a 58% rise from last year — as unusually high temperatures drove more people to water, public health officials say.
Migration offset natural decline for the fourth consecutive year, pushing the European Union’s population to an historic high of 450.4 million in 2024, according to Eurostat figures released on Friday.
Germany’s public debt is projected to climb from 62.5% to 74% of GDP by 2030, driven by record defence and infrastructure spending, according to a report by the European rating agency Scope.
The global oil market may be tighter than headline supply-demand figures suggest, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Friday, citing rising refinery activity and seasonal summer demand as key drivers of short-term market pressure.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment