Olaf Scholz to take charge as Germany’s chancellor as Angela Merkel era ends

Olaf Scholz to become Germany’s next chancellor after three-party deal to form new government

He takes the helm of Europe’s largest economy from Angela Merkel, bringing her 16-year tenure to an end

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Germany’s next chancellor Olaf Scholz is often described as austere or robotic. Photo: AFP

Published: 12:04pm, 7 Dec 2021Updated: 4:30pm, 7 Dec 2021

Germany’s parliament will elect Olaf Scholz as the country’s next chancellor on Wednesday, bringing the curtain down on Angela Merkel’s 16-year reign, ushering in a new political era with the centre-left in charge.

Scholz led his Social Democrats to victory against Merkel’s conservative CDU-CSU bloc in an landmark election in September, as the veteran chancellor prepared to leave politics after four consecutive terms in office.

Together with the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats, Scholz’s SPD managed in a far shorter time than expected to forge a coalition that aspires to make Germany greener and fairer.

The designated cabinet members of Germany’s new government, with women in key security portfolios. Photo: Reuters

“I want the 20s to be a time of new beginnings,” Scholz told Die Zeit weekly, declaring an ambition to push forward “the biggest industrial modernisation which will be capable of stopping climate change caused by mankind”.

Putting equality rhetoric into practice, he unveiled the country’s first gender-balanced cabinet on Monday, with women in key security portfolios.

“That corresponds to the society we live in - half of the power belongs to women,” said Scholz, who describes himself as a “feminist”.

The centre-left’s return to power in Europe’s biggest economy could shift the balance on a continent still reeling from Brexit and with the other major player, France, heading into presidential elections in 2022.