Even before the collapse of the German coalition government, Olaf Scholz was convinced that he would be the natural candidate for the chancellorship of the German Social Democratic Party in the next election. He spoke about this with great conviction to his close colleagues – one close to him sarcastically told Intalia that it would be difficult to bring down the Prime Minister.
Olaf Scholz went to the G20 Summit in Brazil with this belief, but he returned with completely different thoughts.
Germany. Will Olaf Scholz lose his seat?
Within the party, there is a rapidly growing belief that Scholz should be replaced by a more powerful politician. They are no longer individual, insignificant Social Democrats, but influential party members from the SPD's stronghold of North Rhine-Westphalia.
While it is true that Mr. Scholz still enjoys the support of the party's executive board, the situation could change quickly as time is running out and pressure from political circles is mounting. The SPD hopes to launch a campaign for a future head of government at the end of November.
There is even talk of a coup d'état in social democratic circles, as Olaf Scholz's SPD faces defeat in the elections scheduled for February 23 next year. This opinion is in line with the latest survey results published daily by Bild. In the ranking of the most popular German politicians, Olaf Scholz was at the bottom in 20th place. And it will not be difficult for the Social Democratic Party to appoint a new leader. This is because another member of the group turns out to be the politician with whom the German public has the most sympathy.
Olaf Scholz is losing support. Who will take his place?
Along with him, more and more party members are aiming for victory. We are talking about Boris Pistorius – the current Minister of Defense. He is an experienced local government official and an expert in the field of internal security and national defense. As Secretary of Defense, he has shown great managerial sensibilities in recent months. Unlike his predecessor, he quickly endeared himself to the Bundeswehr soldiers and recognized himself as one of them, despite not wearing a military uniform.
So far, Boris Pistorius has been diplomatic about the idea of announcing his candidacy. Frankly, he does not want to stick a stick in an anthill, claims to be a soldier of the party, and the SPD has put Mr. Scholz in the election as a candidate for the future head of government. But on Monday, speaking unexpectedly in Passau at a panel discussion hosted by the publisher Neue Passauer Presse, Pistorius did not rule out the possibility that his circumstances could change. In response to a question about the situation in the SPD, he said bluntly: “You can't rule out anything in politics.”
All this shows that the prime minister is well aware of the rising tensions around him. Olaf Scholz was scheduled to visit Mexico after the G20 summit in Brazil, but the trip was cancelled. The Prime Minister's Office said the change in plans was due to “the current situation”.
Tomasz Reimann, Polsat News, Intel correspondent, Berlin correspondent
“The ball is in play.'' KO/Porsat News/Porsat News Deputy Secretary of Defense talks about primaries
