SPD politician joins calls for Pistorius to replace Scholz as election candidate

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A Social Democrat politician has become the first sitting SPD MP to call for the popular defence minister Boris Pistorius to run as the party’s candidate for chancellor in February’s snap elections instead of Olaf Scholz, in a sign of growing concern in the party over Scholz’s low approval ratings.

Joe Weingarten, an SPD MP, told the Financial Times he believed Pistorius was the better candidate. “He is very close to the people, radiates energy and doesn’t shy away from saying the necessary, clear words about what must now be done in and for Germany,” he said.

A poll for broadcasters RTL and n-tv published on Friday showed 66 per cent of voters thought Pistorius, who only joined the government in January 2023, should lead the SPD into the election, and only 18 per cent wanted Scholz.

About 62 per cent think that with Pistorius, the SPD could do much better in February than polls indicate. The party is now on 16 per cent. Those surveyed said they found Pistorius more trustworthy and likeable than Scholz and that he had stronger leadership qualities.

As defence minister, Pistorius, 64, has come to personify Germany’s stalwart support for Ukraine: it is the second-largest provider of financial and military aid to Kyiv after the US.

Germany is facing snap elections after Scholz unexpectedly pulled the plug on his coalition earlier this month. He will table a confidence vote in the government on December 16 that will pave the way for a national poll to be held on February 23.

The opposition Christian Democratic Union is widely expected to win, with its leader Friedrich Merz succeeding Scholz as chancellor.

Scholz has made clear he intends to run for a second term. But many in the SPD believe the party could improve its chances by tapping Pistorius.

“In view of the great crisis of confidence in political institutions that we’re experiencing now, [Pistorius] is the leader our country needs,” Weingarten said. This was a view many voters had shared with him “in many conversations”, he added.

Weingarten was speaking as a senior SPD grandee, Franz Müntefering, a former vice-chancellor and Social Democrat leader, also questioned whether Scholz had a “prior claim to re-election”.

“The candidacy for chancellor isn’t some kind of game where two or more candidates do a deal on it one evening over beer or at breakfast, or that includes some prior claim to re-election,” he told the newspaper Tagesspiegel.

Müntefering said that only an SPD party conference could anoint a candidate for the top job. “Rival candidates are of course possible in one’s own party, in principle, and no sign of helplessness,” he said. “They are part of democracy in practice.”

Other senior figures in the SPD have acknowledged a mood of dissent. Rolf Mützenich, leader of the SPD group in parliament, admitted on Wednesday that there were “rumblings” in the party.

But he said that in the end, the party knew it “can only win when we’re together” and that he was “firmly convinced” the SPD could win with Scholz.

An SPD conference that will settle the issue of who will top the party’s list of candidates has been scheduled for January 11.

Der Spiegel reported on Sunday that a conservative faction within the SPD parliamentary group, known as the Seeheimer Circle, had discussed this week whether the party’s candidate should be Scholz or Pistorius and that some of those present said they would prefer Pistorius. The Circle did not respond to a request for comment.

Last week two SPD politicians from the chancellor’s home town of Hamburg, Markus Schreiber and Tim Stoberock, said Scholz should make way for the defence minister. “Our chances of winning the election or at least performing a lot better are much greater with [Pistorius], who has long been Germany’s most popular politician,” they wrote on Instagram.

But few senior SPD figures from the party’s front ranks have broken cover to openly question Scholz’s suitability, and party leaders have argued strongly against dropping him from the ticket. 

“Olaf Scholz is chancellor,” said Lars Klingbeil, the SPD’s co-chairman. “And everyone who carries responsibility in the SPD has made clear in the last few days that we stand behind him.”