Germany's Green Party pushes Habeck for Chancellor amid crisis
German media reported that Robert Habeck, the vice chancellor and minister of economic affairs of Germany, plans to announce his candidacy for the position of Chancellor as the representative of the Green Party on Friday. The opposition is pushing for a much earlier date for possible early parliamentary elections.
From Vice Chancellor to Chancellor candidate: Federal Minister of Economic Affairs Robert Habeck will announce his candidacy for Chancellor today, the Spiegel magazine website reported, citing informants within the Green Party. The minister's decision was also reported by ARD television and Bild newspaper, among others.
Changes are coming in the German government
In the last Bundestag elections in 2021, Habeck withdrew from running in favour of Annalena Baerbock. In July of this year, Baerbock declared in an interview with CNN that she did not plan to run for Chancellor again. Many party members then saw an opportunity for Habeck, but he remained discreet throughout the summer, "Spiegel" recalled.
The magazine noted that with the collapse of the SPD, Green Party, and FDP coalition in Berlin, the election campaign has begun. Without the FDP in the coalition, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the Greens no longer have a majority in parliament. Scholz himself plans a vote of confidence as a prelude to possible early elections in January. The opposition is pushing for a much earlier date.
Opposition does not want to wait
Friedrich Merz, the opposition leader and CDU/CSU Chancellor candidate, urged Scholz to avoid delaying the announcement of the vote of confidence in the Bundestag until January. On Friday in Berlin, he emphasized promptly moving towards new elections.
Merz believes next Wednesday, after the Chancellor's scheduled government statement, is the right time for a vote of confidence. "It is important that we now very quickly put responsibility for the composition of the German Bundestag back into the hands of the voters," argued the head of CDU/CSU.
So far, only Merz has been officially confirmed as the CDU/CSU Chancellor candidate. FDP leader Christian Lindner announced on Thursday that he would again be available as the main candidate for the Liberals. Scholz also wants to lead the SPD's election campaign again but has not yet been confirmed as the Social Democrats' Chancellor candidate, "Spiegel" reminded.
The three-party coalition of SPD, Greens, and FDP, which has governed Germany since 2021, collapsed on Wednesday when Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced Finance Minister Lindner's resignation from the FDP due to differences in economic and budgetary policies. Earlier, during a meeting of coalition party leaders on Wednesday, Lindner proposed new elections to the Bundestag.
