Leftist German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Seek Second Term Despite Dismal Polling, Floundering Economy

Olaf Scholz, Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister of Finance of Germany speaking in The Gl
World Economic Forum, Flickr
Kurt Zindulka

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz confirmed on Wednesday that he plans to seek another term in office next year, despite trailing in the polls and the nation’s economy floundering under his watch.

In a press conference on Wednesday, Scholz was pressed on whether he would follow the example of U.S. President Joe Biden and not run for re-election, the German leader said: “I will run as chancellor to become chancellor again,” while claiming that his Social Democrat Party (SPD) is “very united” and in a good position to maintain power in the Bundestag parliament in Berlin.

“Poll results that are not good are an incentive to want to achieve better poll results,” Scholz said per broadcaster NTV. “My conviction is that we will get the thing turned around.”

The Chancellor’s leftist party is currently languishing in third place in the polls with just 14 per cent support, behind the centrist Christian Democrat Union/Christian Social Union in Bavaria at 31 per cent and the right-wing anti-mass migration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party at 17 per cent, according to the latest RTL/ntv trend barometer.

Meanwhile, the Chancellor’s coalition partners are not fairing any better in the polls, with the Greens sitting at 11 per cent and the neoliberal Free Democrats at just five per cent, below the upstart populist Left Party of Sahra Wagenknecht at seven per cent.

Scholz is even struggling to maintain support within his own party, with a Forsa survey earlier this month finding that just a third of SPD members were in favour of him remaining chancellor and only 55 per cent overall thought he was doing a good job in leading the country.

After taking over the helm in Berlin from Angela Merkel in 2021, the German economy has descended into shambles, initially damaged during the Chinese coronavirus crisis and the his government’s strict lockdown measures and further deteriorating with the outbreak of war in Ukraine, which the German state was caught flat-footed by and was ill prepared to deal with the cut off of gas from Russia after plundering its resources into green agenda projects.

While there was hope that the German economy would rebound this year, the chief economist at Hamburg Commercial Bank Dr Cyrus de la Rubia said on Wednesday that the country is facing a “serious problem” as the manufacturing sector continues to slump.

“This looks like a serious problem. Germany’s economy fell back into contraction territory, dragged down by a steep and dramatic fall in manufacturing output,” he told The Telegraph.

“The hope that this sector could benefit from a better global economic climate is vanishing into thin air… While it is still early days and many data points are yet to come, the second half of the year is starting on a very weak note.”

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