An SPD member first considers Pistorius as a possible candidate for chancellor.
The polls have consistently shown that Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz lags behind the Minister of Defense, Boris Pistorius, in terms of popularity. Now an SPD politician from Saxony is pushing for action: According to him, the Social Democrats can only win the next election if they nominate Pistorius as their candidate for chancellor. Scholz has already lost too much credibility with the grassroots.
The SPD is also publicly discussing the "K-question" - who should be the next chancellor. Heiko Wittig, head of the SPD parliamentary group in North Saxony, is the first SPD politician to openly advocate for a candidacy by Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. He told the "Tagesspiegel" newspaper that a renewed candidacy by Scholz would result in a "rude awakening" for the SPD in the 2025 federal election.
"Many in the SPD base see Pistorius as our number one candidate," Wittig said. "If Pistorius ran against Friedrich Merz as the chancellor candidate, the CDU/CSU's 15-percentage-point lead would quickly shrink," he continued, adding that "with a Pistorius candidate for chancellor and the implementation of some good ideas, like payment cards for asylum seekers or a revision of citizens' income, the SPD has the best chance of winning the 2025 federal election."
Wittig believes that Scholz lacks leadership qualities. "There's a reason why Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has been on every popularity list for months and Scholz at the bottom," he told the newspaper. "Everyone I talk to criticizes him: Scholz is too quiet. The Chancellor has the authority to issue directives, but Scholz hasn't used it. Until now, he hasn't even visibly asserted himself. Unlike Schmidt, Kohl, Schröder, and even Angela Merkel in the past."
Wittig stated that Scholz might be "an experienced man," but he's not exactly popular outside of northern Germany. He agreed that Scholz was keeping Germany out of war, but criticized the Chancellor for not putting a halt to the heating law early on. "Now Scholz is bickering with Pistorius about more money for the Bundeswehr," he said. "Our people here agree with Pistorius on all points. Germany needs to be more capable of defending itself. The Chancellor needs to give in. If he doesn't, he'll become even more unpopular."
Wittig labelled Scholz as "not a bad politician, but he doesn't come across." He also suggested that Scholz had "simply gambled away too much credit." The politician emphasized that people are growing tired of the squabbles within the traffic light coalition, noting that "this coalition keeps forcing a new piece of pork through the village every day. First came the heating law, then the hospital reform that nobody wants."
Unlike Scholz, Defense Minister Pistorius speaks in a clear, easy-to-understand language, Wittig claimed. "The people like the fact that he's tough. He makes clear announcements, he's out there, talking to people, and cares about them. He's got strong principles, especially when it comes to reforming the Bundeswehr. The fact that he recently said he didn't need to do that went down well with people. Pistorius hasn't been glued to his chair since the beginning."
The SPD needs to consider who has the better chance of winning the next election, and for Wittig, that person is Pistorius.
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Source: www.ntv.de
