The Chancellor wants to give it another go and is counting on a second term in office. Despite poor polls and election results. But the pressure on Scholz could increase significantly in two weeks.
Despite poor poll ratings and recent election debacles, Chancellor Olaf Scholz expects the SPD to win the 2025 federal election. He firmly expects “that the SPD and I will receive such a strong mandate in 2025 that we will also lead the next government,” the SPD politician told the “Tagesspiegel”.
“Governing is not getting any easier, so we should do it,” said the Chancellor. His goal is “an SPD-led federal government.” When asked whether the thought of four more years of a traffic light government was not wearing him down, Scholz replied: “I am a runner and I have good fitness. You need that too.”
In the ZDF summer interview, the Chancellor pointed out that the SPD had already managed to win in 2021 from a similar situation. “We are a battle-tested party,” he stressed.
SPD at 15 percent in survey – dissatisfaction with traffic light coalition
According to a new survey, the traffic light coalition of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP has continued to lose support. The three parties together have 29 percent. That is two percentage points less than in the previous week, as the polling institute Insa determined for “Bild am Sonntag”. The Chancellor’s party SPD is at 15 percent (minus 1) in the survey, the Greens at 10 percent (minus 1). The Liberals, as in the previous week, only achieved 4 percent and could thus be thrown out of the Bundestag.
Satisfaction with the government work of the traffic light coalition is also not looking good: 74 percent are not satisfied with the work of the federal government – that is 4 percentage points more than in the survey from two weeks ago. 70 percent are dissatisfied with Scholz’s work (plus 6).
In addition, a clear majority of people in Germany believe that the head of government is a weak leader. 77 percent of those surveyed believe that the Chancellor is not getting his way. This is the result of a survey conducted by the research group Wahlen for the ZDF “Politbarometer”. Only 17 percent of the survey said that Scholz was getting his way. 6 percent did not want to give an assessment.
Question of confidence in the Bundestag not an issue for Scholz
In view of the poor results, Scholz told the “Tagesspiegel” that he had decided a long time ago never to comment on polls. He takes note of them. “But basing politics on polls is never a good idea.”
For Scholz, asking the question of confidence in the Bundestag and thus initiating early elections is not an option, as he made clear in the ZDF summer interview. The government has a majority to do the tasks that are now at stake, he said. “It’s a little opposition idea to say this word every three weeks or so.”
Scholz: Boris Pistorius also wants me to run again
When asked whether he would let Defense Minister Boris Pistorius run for chancellor if he came to the conclusion that the SPD would have a better chance with him, the Chancellor told the newspaper: “Boris Pistorius, like many others, wants me to run for chancellor again. I see it exactly the same way.”
The defense minister is regularly well ahead of Scholz in popularity rankings. In June, he backed the chancellor. “He is a smart politician and he knows how to do it. So I have no doubt that he will be our next candidate for chancellor.”
State elections in Brandenburg the next mood test
The Social Democrats achieved their worst results to date in the most recent state elections in Thuringia and Saxony, with 6.1 and 7.3 percent respectively. At the beginning of June, the SPD had already achieved its worst result in a nationwide election in the European elections, with 13.9 percent.
Now all eyes are on Brandenburg, where a new state parliament will be elected on September 22. The election there is important for the SPD because it has provided all the state premiers in Potsdam since 1990. If the head of government, Dietmar Woidke, fails after eleven years in power, the pressure on Scholz would increase. In polls, the SPD is in second place in Brandenburg behind the AfD.
Chancellor criticizes his government’s public appearance
The Chancellor criticized the government’s public behavior. “The government must accept the fact that many decisions were accompanied by fierce public debate,” he told the “Tagesspiegel”. “Because of all the gun smoke, sometimes you could no longer see what was actually being decided.”
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
