Olaf Scholz of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) leads the election, then Armin Laschet of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU)Supported by Merkel. Annalena Barbock, Do Green Party, who came to lead the voting intent, should be in third place.
But, according to Agence France Presse, the dispute escalated in the final stretch between the Social Democrats (SPD) and the Conservatives (CDU/CSU) with 25 percent voting intentions, rising to 23% in the poll. The institute’s latest, released Thursday.
The name of the new chancellor, as the German prime minister is known, only needs to be confirmed, however, in a few weeks, when talks between allied parties are concluded.
This is because neither of them is likely to win an absolute majority, and will certainly depend on the coalition to form the new government. Similarly, at present, Merkel of the CDU governs with the support of the SPD and the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU).
If confirmed as having the most votes of the three, Scholz from the centre-left should have the Green Party as a natural ally, and it is quite likely that he will be with the centre-right without major difficulties. be able to reach an agreement. Christian Democrats too.
From left: Olaf Scholz (SPD), Annalena Berbock (Green Party) and Armin Lachette (CDU), candidates for the Prime Minister of Germany, in the TV studio in Berlin, before the debate on September 12 – Photo: Michael Kepeller / via AP pool from
Considered a member of the liberal wing of the SPD, he has already indicated that he does not rule out talks with any other party except the socialist populists of Die Linke. Far Far From Alternative (AfD) to Germany.
Olaf Scholz, 63, a lawyer specializing in labor law, has been a member of the SPD since 1975 and was first elected to the Bundestag of the German parliament in 1998. He was also Minister of Labor and Mayor of Hamburg.
Considered extremely practical, he was the target of jokes when he was nicknamed “Skolzomat”, a joke accompanying his name and the word “automat”, suggesting that he was more of a human being than a human. close to the machine.
The SPD candidate mainly benefited from the fall of Armin Larset, who had everything to replace his party ally Merkel, with relative ease.
But facing charges of plagiarism in a book she wrote in 2009 (and responded by saying “there are clearly errors for which I am responsible”), she was faced with the fact that the ruling state, North Rhine -Westphalia, concentrates one of the highest rates of Covid-19 cases in the country, and is also considered ambiguous when it comes to making its proposals.
A boy dressed in a Bavarian hands German Prime Minister Angela Merkel a giant cookie with the word “thank you” during a CDU campaign event in Munich on Friday (24) – Photo: AP Photo / Mathias Schrader
Furthermore, while visiting an area of his state badly affected by floods, he was caught laughing at a joke, such as German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier giving a solemn speech in solidarity with the victims.
Annalena Berbock, at just 40 years old, may be the youngest person in history to hold the position. Germany. She went on to lead the polls as intended, but became the target of a series of criticisms and demands, and admits she made “mistakes” in her campaign.
She was accused of using false resumes, late paying taxes and using slang considered racist. He quickly apologized at every opportunity, but his image was tarnished.
The candidate has also become the most frequent target of propaganda in these elections, with an estimated 70% of attacks being propagated through fake news, with about 30% directed at Armin Laszt and almost none at Olaf Scholz.
The model for choosing the head of the German government is complex and involves several steps. It begins with voters voting twice on the same ballot and ends with the approval of the new chancellor’s name by the newly elected parliament (View process details here)
On the first vote, voters choose a candidate to represent each of the 299 German constituencies. Each party presents its opponent, and as long as they have at least 200 signatures of supporters, there is the possibility of free participation.
On the second vote the voter chooses the party of his choice. It is not necessary that the first ballot paper has the same affiliation as the candidate. That is, if a person has chosen a CDU representative to represent their district, they can easily vote for SPD in that second choice if they prefer that abbreviation overall.
For this second vote, each party indicates a list of political leaders who can represent each German state in parliament with at least 299 seats. In this case, the seats are distributed proportionately according to the percentage of votes condensed in the election. There, each union occupies the respective seats according to the order of the list already defined.
Overview of the Bundestag, German Parliament in photo on October 22, 2013 – Photo: AP Photo/Michael Sohn
After the counting and allocation of seats in parliament, the party with the most votes seeks a coalition to nominate a name for the post of chancellor. The name is that of the leader of the party, usually defined by the abbreviation before the vote (this year, Scholz, Lashet or Baerbock are the most likely).
MPs have a month to assume office and then start applying the name of the Chancellor from the coalition. It is very difficult for a single party to obtain more than 50% of the seats in the Parliament of Germany, so the most likely scenario is one of party alliances.
Finally, the eponymous name is carried over to the President of Germany, who is currently Frank-Walter Steinmeier. He has a ceremonial role, does not participate in government, and simply confirms the nomination and returns it to Parliament. Then, MPs make the choice of the new German chancellor official in a secret ballot.
