Germany’s SPD picks Olaf Scholz as candidate to succeed Angela Merkel
by Philip Oltermann in Berlin from World news | The Guardian on (#56QYK)
Social Democrats name pragmatic ex-mayor Olaf Scholz as candidate for chancellor in 2021
Germany's Social Democrats have fired the starting gun in the race to replace Angela Merkel as chancellor by announcing the pragmatist finance minister Olaf Scholz as their candidate for the job.
One of the two pillars of 20th-century democracy in Germany, the Social Democratic party (SPD) has seen its support wither away since joining Merkel's government as junior coalition partner in 2013. It lies third in the polls behind the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Greens, on about 14% of the vote.
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