Despite poor poll numbers: Chancellor Scholz firmly expects re-election in 2025

Despite miserable poll numbers
Chancellor Scholz firmly expects re-election in 2025

08.09.2024, 21:03

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The traffic light parties are not doing well in current polls. The SPD, FDP and Greens also suffered losses in the state elections in Saxony and Thuringia. Nevertheless, Chancellor Olaf Scholz expects to start a second term in office in autumn next year.

Despite poor poll ratings and recent election debacles, Chancellor Olaf Scholz expects the SPD to win the 2025 federal election. He firmly expects “that the SPD and I will receive such a strong mandate in 2025 that we will also lead the next government,” the SPD politician told the “Tagesspiegel”.

“Governing is not getting any easier, and we should do it,” said the Chancellor. His goal is “an SPD-led federal government.” When asked whether the thought of four more years of a traffic light government was not wearing him down, Scholz replied: “I am a runner and I have good fitness. You need that too.”

According to a survey, the traffic light coalition of the SPD, the Greens and the FDP has continued to lose support slightly. The three parties together have 30 percent. That is one percentage point less than in the previous week, as the Forsa polling institute determined for RTL/ntv. The Chancellor's party, the SPD, is at 14 percent (minus 1) in the survey, while the Greens, as in the previous week, are at 11 percent. The Liberals, as in the previous week, only achieved 5 percent.

In view of the poor results, Scholz told the “Tagesspiegel” that he had decided a long time ago never to comment on polls. He takes note of them. “But basing politics on polls is never a good idea.”

Pistorius stands behind Scholz

When asked whether he would let Defense Minister Boris Pistorius run for chancellor if he came to the conclusion that the SPD would have a better chance with him, the Chancellor replied to the newspaper: “Boris Pistorius, like many others, wants me to run for chancellor again. I see it exactly the same way. The Defense Minister is regularly well ahead of Scholz in the popularity rankings. In June he backed the Chancellor. “He is a smart politician and he knows how to do it. I have no doubt that he will therefore be our next candidate for chancellor.”

The Social Democrats achieved their worst results to date in the recent state elections in Thuringia and Saxony, with 6.1 and 7.3 percent respectively. At the beginning of June, the SPD had already achieved its worst result in a nationwide election in the European elections, with 13.9 percent.

Now all eyes are on Brandenburg, where a new state parliament will be elected on September 22. The election there is important for the SPD because it has provided all the state premiers in Potsdam since 1990. If the head of government, Dietmar Woidke, fails after eleven years in power, the pressure on Scholz would increase. In polls, the SPD is in second place in Brandenburg behind the AfD.