Olaf Scholz wants to remain a candidate for chancellor and ask a vote of confidence later

Unlike the Union’s demands, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) will not ask the question of confidence in the Bundestag this Wednesday. His government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit also made it clear that the Chancellor would, if necessary, decide on the date on his own if an agreement cannot be reached with the CDU and CSU. If the strongest opposition force is not interested in an agreement, “then the Chancellor must decide and then ask a vote of confidence,” he said.

Scholz originally wanted to ask the vote of confidence on January 15th in order to bring about a new Bundestag election at the end of March. After massive public pressure, he agreed on Sunday to ask the vote of confidence before Christmas. He called on the parliamentary groups in the Bundestag to discuss a date and possible joint projects before the election. The Union rejects this and is pushing for a vote of confidence as quickly as possible.

“Scholz should not throw any more smokescreens now, but rather quickly ask the question of trust,” says First Parliamentary Managing Director Thorsten Frei (CDU) to “Bild”. But that certainly won’t happen on Wednesday. Hebestreit said: “I can reassure you that the Chancellor will not ask a vote of confidence on Wednesday.”

As things stand, the SPD again does not want to name Olaf Scholz as its candidate for chancellor until the end of January or beginning of February at a party conference. General Secretary Matthias Miersch said this after a party executive meeting in Berlin. It remained unclear when the SPD leadership nominated Scholz for the post. Today the board did not address the issue.

Miersch countered speculation that the SPD might choose another candidate after all. “In my opinion, I have had no doubt over the last few weeks that Olaf Scholz will be the candidate,” he said. Party leaders Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil have repeatedly made similar statements in recent weeks.

However, there is a discussion in the party about whether Defense Minister Boris Pistorius would not be the better candidate. He has been the most popular politician in Germany in surveys for months. Pistorius himself said on Monday at a discussion event in the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” that he had no ambitions to become his party’s candidate for chancellor in the upcoming federal election. “We have a Federal Chancellor and he is the designated candidate for Chancellor.” Instead, Pistorius made it clear that he wanted to remain in the position of defense minister in a new government coalition.

The Greens meanwhile criticized the Union for the time pressure. Parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz (CDU) has “quite exaggerated” with his demand that Scholz should ask the vote of confidence this week, said Green Party leader Ricarda Lang. At the same time, it is clear that now is not the right time to push through your own “favorite projects” in exchange for a somewhat shortened timetable for the new elections, she warned the SPD.

The Greens are prepared for an election date before March. When it comes to the schedule, Scholz should definitely “create clarity this week.”

Among the projects that the Greens believe should be decided on in the Bundestag as soon as possible are the 49-euro ticket, the extension of the rent cap and the protection of the Federal Constitutional Court from attempts to influence and block. Above all, the project to strengthen the resilience of the Karlsruhe court, which is also supported by the Union, should be passed quickly, as there could possibly be a blocking minority of the AfD and BSW in the new Bundestag that could prevent this.