By Our Special Correspondent
Leader of Social Democrat Party (SPD), Mr. Olaf Scholz, took over as Germany’s Chancellor, ending 16 years of conservative rule under Ms. Angela Merkel, and launching his three-waycoalition that has pledged to boost green investment and strengthen European integration, on December 8, 2021. Mr. Scholz, 63, who over the past four years served as Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister in coalition with Merkel, won a majority of 395 votes from lawmakers in the lower house of parliament, Bundestag. After being formally nominated by the President Mr. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Mr. Scholz took the oath of office in front of lawmakers and became Germany’s 9th Chancellor since the end of World War II.
Ms. Merkel officially handed over the chancellery to Mr. Scholz and wished him a “steady hand” as Germany faces a surging fourth wave of coronavirus infections and hybrid attacks on democracies by authoritarian leaders. In a short speech, Mr. Scholz hailed Ms. Merkel as a great Chancellor and thanked her for a close and trustful relationship over the past years. With his down-to-earth and no-nonsense manner, Mr. Scholz positioned himself as Ms. Merkel’s natural successor and a safe pair of hands to steer Germany through challengers ranging from tackling the climate crisis to dealing with a more confrontational Russia and increasingly assertive China.
Mr. Scholz leads an unprecedented tripartite coalition on the federal level with the pro-spending, environmentalist Greens Party and the fiscally more conservative, libertarian Free Democrats Party (FDP). Mr. Scholz is an experienced negotiator and veteran politician who as SPD party secretary general from 2002 until 2004 defended disputed labour market reforms and social welfare cuts under the then Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. As Labour Minister from 2007 to 2009 in Ms. Merkel’s first ruling coalition, Mr. Scholz pushed for a generous short-time work scheme that helped protectmillions of workers from the fallout of the global financial crisis. After being mayor of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018,Mr. Scholz returned to Berlin as Merkel’s Finance Minister, a role in which he got rid of balanced budgets and enabled record new borrowing to shield companies and employees from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
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