Wednesday, December 8th, 2021
Live ticker for the election of Chancellor
+++ 07:51 A large majority gives Scholz a maximum of four years as Chancellor +++
According to a survey, almost two thirds of people do not believe that Olaf Scholz will remain Federal Chancellor for more than four years. 20 percent of those surveyed expect the traffic light government he heads to break up before the next general election. Another 44 percent assume that Scholz will remain in office for four years but will not be re-elected. Only 16 percent expect a second term of office for the now 63-year-old. And just 1.3 percent of those surveyed trust Scholz to remain in office for as long as his predecessor Angela Merkel: 16 years. This is what the opinion research institute YouGov found out on behalf of the German Press Agency.
What do you mean?
+++ 07:40 Brinkhaus: “Union still has to get used to the role in the opposition” +++
Union parliamentary group leader Ralph Brinkhaus promises the new government a constructive opposition. “We will criticize the things that are wrong, but we will also go along with the things that are right,” said the CDU politician on Tuesday evening on ARD. This also applies to future cooperation between the Federal Council – where the traffic light parties do not have a majority – with the Bundestag: “We are not doing a blockade policy, we want to move the country forward.” The Union still has to get used to the role in the opposition without Chancellor Merkel, says Brinkhaus. But first of all they will congratulate on Wednesday. “And then we’ll start with the opposition in the afternoon.”
+++ 07:34 ECB boss Lagarde expects “hard work” for the EU +++
The President of the European Central Bank, the French Christine Lagarde, also has expectations of the new federal government: She expects Scholz to work to strengthen the EU. “I am sure that the new government under his leadership will continue to work hard to promote European integration,” she told the Handelsblatt. She is “certain” that Scholz will work as “calmly, thoroughly and focused” as the outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel from the CDU.
Sebastian Huld wrote how Scholz ticks, how he works, in this portrait:
+++ 07:24 Former Chancellor Schröder demands “respect for China” from the new government +++
Before Olaf Scholz is elected, the last SPD Chancellor speaks up: Gerhard Schröder, who ruled the country from 1998 to 2005. He calls on the future federal government to maintain foreign policy continuity. “This also applies to our China policy,” Schröder told the newspapers of the editorial network in Germany. Germany should not allow itself to be drawn into a cold war between the two great powers China and the USA, said Schröder. It is “good and right if we confidently explain our position – but always with respect for a country like China,” says Schröder. Regarding the future chancellorship of Scholz, the former chancellor says that Olaf Scholz coined the phrase that whoever orders a tour from him would also get it. “We need that now.”
Good morning, dear readers!
Today the time has come: The SPD politician Olaf Scholz is elected as the ninth Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. At the same time, the cabinet of the coalition consisting of the SPD, the Greens FDP is appointed and sworn in. After 16 years, the term of office of Chancellor Angela Merkel, who was most recently a managing director in the Chancellery, ends. At this point we will accompany you through the day, report on current events and provide you with a few details on the side.