Response from Berlin

The date for the snap election may not yet be set, but all indications are that Germany cannot wait until March, as Chancellor Olaf Scholz initially suggested.

German media estimate that an intermediate solution may be found, between January 19 proposed by the Christian Democrats and mid-March proposed by Solz. After all, Olaf Solz himself declared on Friday from Budapest that he is open to dialogue.

Tomorrow, Monday, a crucial meeting with representatives of regions and municipalities is expected to examine whether it is possible to organize federal elections immediately, transparently and safely in such a short period of time.

Mertz and Habeck’s leading comeback

However, the pre-election campaign has begun for good. The head of the Christian Democrats, Friedrich Merz, has already announced his candidacy for the chancellorship in September, clipping the wings and leadership ambitions of the Bavarian leader of the “brothers” of the Christian Socialists, Markus Zender.

“You will get to know me better soon,” Friedrich Merz said, promising to show his true self to the citizens: friendly and closer to the people than he has shown so far, according to him.

Vice-Chancellor and Minister of Economy and Energy Robert Hambeck announced his intention to be the chancellor candidate for the Greens in a video from his home kitchen on Friday, despite the Greens’ low percentage in the polls, ranging from 12 to 14%. He believes, as he told the ARD network, that the low percentage of the Greens is due to the deterioration of their participation in the co-government, which was torpedoed by the Liberals.

Soltz or Pistorius… and Weidel in the background

In the bosom of the Social Democrats there is an effervescence and rumors have been giving and taking for some time. Olaf Solz may proclaim that he will be the next chancellor, but within the party there is a current of doubt about Solz’s suitability and a tendency in favor of populist Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who has long been winning the battle of popularity in the opinion polls.

Speaking to the newspaper Tagesspiegel, the mayor of Munich, Dieter Wright, openly supported Pistorius: “Of course, the most popular politician in Germany should be taken into account in the choice of the chancellor candidate.” For now, Boris Pistorius himself is keeping his cards under wraps.

For the far-right ÁfD, the landscape had cleared up between the two co-presidents, Tino Krupala and Alice Weidel, for a long time in favor of the latter. However, the ratification of the candidacy by the party bodies is also expected.

According to a new poll by the Civey Institute for the website t-online, the result of the question of who or what you would like to be chancellor in the future is, however, troubling.

29% answered Friedrich Merz and 19% Alice Weidel, the co-chair of the far-right Alternative for Germany. Just 5% for Olaf Solz and 16% for Boris Pistorius.