Popular Pistorius makes way for struggling Scholz to launch German reelection bid

BERLIN — Germany’s most popular politician, Boris Pistorius, has taken himself out of the running to lead the Social Democratic Party (SPD) into an early general election, opening the way for Olaf Scholz — the most unloved chancellor in living memory — to launch a long-shot reelection bid.

The 64-year-old defense minister announced in a three-minute video message released on social media that he was “not available” to run, saying the decision had been “sovereign, personal and completely my own.”

“We have in Olaf Scholz an outstanding chancellor,” Pistorius added, praising Scholz for leading his three-party coalition through years of crisis and attacks on democracy. “And he is the right chancellor candidate.”

In recent days, a growing number of rank-and-file SPD politicians called on party leaders to drop the unpopular Scholz and make Pistorius their top candidate. The SPD leadership, however, maintained steadfast support for Scholz — and worried that a prolonged debate would only further damage the party.

Pistorius addressed that concern in his video message.

“The discussions about the chancellor candidacy in recent weeks have caused increasing uncertainty in the SPD, and also, this is damaging my party, of which I have been a member for 48 years now,” Pistorius said. “I didn’t instigate it, I didn’t want it and I didn’t put myself forward for anything. We now have a joint responsibility to end this debate, because there is a lot at stake.”

The SPD is polling in the mid-teens following the collapse of Scholz’s center-left coalition earlier this month. Friedrich Merz’s opposition Christian Democrats lead on 33 percent, followed by the far-right Alternative for Germany party at 18 percent.

It’s unclear whether the end of speculation over a possible Pistorius candidacy will now help Scholz. The chancellor has been panned for weak leadership of his fractious “traffic light” coalition with the Greens and liberal Free Democrats. Abroad, meanwhile, he has failed in the eyes of many to keep his promise of a Zeitenwende — or historic turn — to a more assertive foreign and security policy following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

He campaigned in the June European election by profiling himself as a Friedenskanzler (“chancellor of peace”) only to lose. Unfazed, he has been shaping to re-up that pitch in a snap election, expected to be held in February following a parliamentary vote of confidence that he is almost certain to lose in mid-December.

The Scholz relaunch got off to a troubled start after he shocked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and angered Western allies last week by making his first phone call in two years to Russian President Vladimir Putin. That was followed the next day by the heaviest Russian aerial attack on Ukraine in months.

Scholz, despite repeatedly proclaiming his support, has ruled out sending German long-range Taurus missiles to Ukraine — even as the United States, the United Kingdom and France have sent their own missiles and loosened restrictions on their use to allow Ukraine to strike military targets within Russia.

This article has been updated to correct a misspelling of Olaf Scholz’s name in one mention.