Who is Olaf Scholz, Germany’s most likely next chancellor after Angela Merkel?
- Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats came first in Sunday’s election
- Chancellor Angela Merkel did not seek a fifth term
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Germany’s Social Democrats win election, chancellor candidate Scholz celebrated by his supporters
Olaf Scholz, the favourite to succeed Angela Merkel as German chancellor, is often described as boring.
Nicknamed “Scholzomat” for his robotic speeches, Scholz is one of Germany’s most influential politicians, with a reputation for being meticulous, confident and fiercely ambitious.
Another option that would have a parliamentary majority is a repeat of the outgoing “grand coalition” of the Merkel’s centre-right Union bloc and Social Democrats. That is the combination that has run Germany for 12 years of Merkel’s 16-year tenure, though this time it would be under Scholz’s leadership with Merkel’s bloc as junior partner. But that coalition has often been marred by squabbling, and there is little appetite for it.
“My idea is that we will be very fast in getting a result for this government, and it should be before Christmas if possible,” Scholz told reporters in Berlin on Monday. “Germany always has coalition governments and it was always stable.”
