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Olaf Scholz has been involved in politics all his life. PHOTO: Reuters
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The policy is full of surprises and one of them is the strange rebirth of social democracy in Germany, the Independent reported. Europe’s largest economy faces general elections on September 26th, and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) looks set to be the shocking winner.
Thus, for the first time since the end of Gerhard Schröder’s era in 2005, Germany will have a left-wing leader, Olaf Scholz. But he will inevitably rule in a coalition.
This is a big change, given that the PSD as well
large part of the
the European
left, they were
isolated a lot
long time
In recent years, despite the PSD’s weak pre-election performance, it has managed to stay in power and retain its influence with the grace of Angela Merkel, who has found various alternatives for her rule to support her old rival party. It was almost an act of charity and a little humiliation for such a historical movement. Now, however, the PSD is on the rise for the Christian Democrats, who are deprived of Merkel’s power in view of her impending departure.
The main reason for the rising power of the Social Democrats is not difficult to find – Olaf Scholz. The bald and hot-tempered-looking candidate for chancellor of the SDP managed to strike the German voters with a bang.
Scholz is a lawyer by education who has always been involved in politics and has never had what some critics call a real job.
He graduated from high school in 1977, obtained a law degree from the University of Hamburg, specialized in labor law and transferred to the civil service. An avid Social Democrat in his student years, he became a politician and joined the Bundestag in 1998. At the age of 40, he married Britta Ernst, a PSD politician.
Olaf Scholz was general secretary of his party during its last term with the Greens from 1998 to 2005.
Until 2018, he was finance minister – a post that built his reputation. The lack of any other experience did not seem to do him any harm, except that it left him in the minds of people with a slightly dull image.
Pragmatic, frank, open to the world, maybe a little
skeptical of
the romantic
Europeanism
– Unlike his rival from the Christian Democrats, Armin Lashet Scholz is a real son of Hamburg. It is reminiscent of the great Helmut Schmidt, who was behind the glory of the PSD 40 years ago.
The Social Democrat candidate consciously wants to be Merkel’s successor, as he is a reasonable centrist who makes decisions rationally on the basis of his information and chooses the best option with little ideological bias. Germans like this very much and appreciate the intelligence and competence in such leaders.
Often the job of finance minister can kill someone’s political career because it is often identified with difficult and unpopular elections. But for Scholz, the pandemic provided an opportunity for some heroic solutions – huge support programs that helped keep Germany’s powerful economy afloat and people working. Scholz
even surpassed
by popularity
your boss –
the Chancellor
Merkel, who is most respected for ruling Germany through some unpleasant events, including bank failures and the migration crisis.
The Social Democrat has clear policies and a philosophy for the future. He wants to increase the minimum wage to 12 euros per hour.
In terms of temperament, origin and political point of view, Scholz seems to be the natural candidate for Merkel’s successor. The Germans, it seems
neglect
his mistakes
in the past,
such as the mismanagement of riots at the G20 summit in Hamburg in 2017, when he was mayor of the city, and various episodes involving banks and tax collection. At 63, he is only a few years younger than Merkel, but still seems to have won over the Germans on his side.
Rival Lashet: He is being investigated for money laundering and fraud
Social Democratic candidate Olaf Scholz convincingly won Sunday’s second televised debate among the main contenders for the chancellor’s post on Sunday, Reuters reported. According to a poll, 41% of respondents consider Scholz the winner of the debate, 27% voted for Armin Laschet, a candidate from the conservative bloc of Merkel’s Christian Democratic and Christian Social Union (CDU / CSU), and 25% – for the Green candidate Analena Burbock. During the trilateral live discussions, which lasted about 90 minutes, Laschet attacked Scholz all the time.
Armin Laschet tried to undermine the credibility of the Social Democrat candidate, who is currently Germany’s finance minister.
“If my finance minister worked like you, then we would have a big problem,” said the Christian Democrat. He cited a search of the finance ministry last week in connection with a money laundering investigation, the great fraud with Wirecard and its bankruptcy, as well as other scandals as examples of Scholz failing to meet his obligations. The Social Democrat accused his rival of being dishonest, as he gave the false impression that an investigation was under way against the ministry.
Lachet pressured Scholz over whether he would form an alliance with the Greens and the far left, which is against NATO and critical of the European Union in many ways. The Social Democrat did not rule out the possibility of cooperating with the Left Party.
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