Germany's Social Democrats kick off election campaign
November 30, 2024
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party has launched its election campaign and promised to reverse its flagging fortunes. Scholz accused one of his former coalition allies of sabotage.
Scholz was defiant and confident in his message, despite lagging behind his main conservative rivalImage: Michael Kappeler/dpa/picture-alliance
Despite poor showings in the polls for his center-left Social Democrats (SPD), Scholz and party leader Lars Klingbeil promised that the party would turn things around.
What the party leadership said
"There is a hell of a lot at stake," said Scholz, the SPD's candidate for chancellor in the likely election.
"We are facing a fundamental decision for our country, one way or the other," he told the audience at the event at the party's Berlin headquarters. "Now it's about everything. If we take a wrong turn in Germany now, in this situation, it will have serious consequences."
Also speaking at the opening of a campaign conference at the SPD's Berlin headquarters on Saturday, party leader Lars Klingbeil was upbeat about the party's prospects.
"The Social Democrats are standing together, but above all, the Social Democrats are highly motivated for this election campaign," he said.
Who are Germany's top candidates in the 2025 election?
Ahead of the February 23 snap elections, Germany's political parties have selected their top candidates. Here is the lineup.
Image: Carsten Koall/dpa/picture alliance
Olaf Scholz, SPD (born 1958)
The lifelong Social Democrat considers himself an efficient pragmatist. He ran his own law firm and looks back on a decadeslong political career, holding government positions from mayor of Hamburg to, on the federal level, labor minister, finance minister and chancellor. Scholz has failed to shake off the widespread perception that he is an arrogant bureaucrat and is polling low in public support.
Image: Carsten Koall/dpa/picture alliance
Friedrich Merz, CDU (born 1955)
A conservative Christian Democrat, Merz is the oldest candidate for chancellor that a German party has put forth in over 50 years. A staunch Catholic and business lawyer from western Germany's rural Sauerland, Merz looks back on a long career in private enterprise, including a stint at one of the world's largest asset management corporations, BlackRock, as well as several years in the Bundestag.
Image: Ruffer/Caro/picture alliance
Robert Habeck, Greens (born 1969)
With his trademark tousled and unshaven look, Robert Habeck seems approachable. The pragmatic politician has no problem admitting his own mistakes. It was Habeck who found simple and heartfelt words to explain the government's political decisions to the public and offset the perceived arrogance of his coalition partners. Before his political career, he was an author, translator and philosopher.
Image: appeler/dpa/picture alliance
Alice Weidel, AfD (born 1979)
Weidel, co-chair of the far-right Alternative for Germany, holds a doctorate in economics, worked and studied in China, and embraces euro- and NATO-skeptic positions. Weidel is renowned for provocation and incendiary anti-immigrant rhetoric. She lives in Switzerland in a civil partnership with a woman from Sri Lanka. Together, they have two adopted children.
The finance minister who helped bring down Scholz's Cabinet, Lindner studied political science, founded a small advertising business and is a reserve officer in the air force. He became chairman of the neoliberal Free Democrats at the age of only 34 and remains the party's unchallenged leader. He has a reputation as social media-savvy and stylish and is known for his love of sports cars.
Image: Hannes P Albert/dpa/picture alliance
Sahra Wagenknecht, BSW (born 1969)
Wagenknecht, a former leader of the Left, is a frequent guest on political talk shows and a master of populist rhetoric, deriding other politicians as stupid and hypocritical. She espouses conservative social views and left-inspired economic policies, as well as anti-migration positions. She is skeptical of climate change and critical of NATO and dominates her eponymous Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance.
Image: Kay Nietfeld/dpa/picture alliance
Jan van Aken, Left Party (born 1961)
Jan van Aken, born in Western Germany, holds a doctorate in biology and worked as a biological weapons inspector for the United Nations from 2004 to 2006. He was a lawmaker for the Left party in the Bundestag from 2009 to 2017. He has been the co-chair of the Left since October and is fighting for his party's survival at the polls.
Image: Axel Heimken/dpa/picture-alliance
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"85 days, it's going to be a tough ride. It will challenge us," Klingbeil added, referring to what promises to be a tense race to the early parliamentary elections expected to be held on February 23.
"If there's one thing the SPD can do, it's fight: we're a party for catching up, and we're going to show that over the next 85 days," Klingbeil said.
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What the polls say so far
According to one poll, Scholz was clearly gaining ground in terms of voter approval over his challenger Friedrich Merz, the chancellor candidate for the center-right Christian Democrats (CDU).
In the survey published on Saturday by the opinion research institute Insa on behalf of the Bild newspaper, 22% of respondents said they would vote for Scholz directly as chancellor if this option existed in Germany.
The figure shows a 7 percentage point uptick on the previous week. However, 30% still said they would vote for Merz. Meanwhile, 16% said they would choose Robert Habeck, of the Greens — a slight dip compared with last week.
Scholz's three-way coalition government collapsed after he fired ex-Finance Minister Christian Lindner of the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) in early November after months of strong disagreements over budget plans for 2025.
As a result, the FDP withdrew from the government, whittling down Scholz's coalition to a minority government with the Greens.
Scholz opened his speech with attacks on Lindner, saying the FDP leader and party "systematically sabotaged" the work of the government for months.
"They wanted to actively prevent this federal government from being successful," said Scholz. "Something like that must never happen again in Germany."
