Bundestag election campaign: parliamentary group leader Mützenich believes that the SPD will catch up

SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich is confident despite his party’s poor performance in polls for the federal election. “We know: Catching up is possible,” said Mützenich in an interview with the German Press Agency. Many people are only now realizing that there will be elections soon. The SPD could convince Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the party program in the next few weeks.

The chairman of the SPD parliamentary group is relying on the Chancellor’s official bonus. “International politics will also play a role more than four years ago,” said Mützenich. Scholz could score points with his experience and his international contacts on topics such as the war in Ukraine or the inauguration of US President Donald Trump.

Will the SPD benefit from the opposition’s mistakes?

Mützenich was convinced that Union Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz (CDU) would lose favor with voters. “We don’t wait for Friedrich Merz to make mistakes, he makes them,” said the SPD politician.

Even as opposition leader, Merz repeatedly made wrong decisions – be it with energy supplies shortly after the attack on Ukraine or with turning away from future industries a few days ago, said Mützenich. “We cannot trust our country to a candidate with so many misleading and incorrect assessments.”

However, his own future role in the SPD parliamentary group is still unclear, said Mützenich. He considers it a privilege to have been parliamentary group leader for more than five and a half years. “The fact that I can draw on such a long period of time and the corresponding wealth of experience is obviously also an added value for others,” said the 65-year-old. “But I’m not offering myself for anything,” he added.