Scholf was sworn in before Bundestag deputies, shortly after he was elected head of government.
Two and a half months after the elections in Germany, the social demócrata Olaf Scholz was elected Chancellor this Wednesday, which means the return of the center-left to power and the end of 16 years of the government of Angela Merkel.
Scholz, 63, received 395 votes in favor of the 736 Bundestag deputies, who were elected in the September 26 elections.
“Yes,” Scholz told the Speaker of Parliament, Bärbel Bas, when asked if she accepted the result of the vote. The President of the Republic, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, will then deliver an act that formalizes his appointment and marks the beginning of his term.
Scholf was sworn in before the deputies of the Bundestag, shortly after he was elected head of government of the first European economy.
His election as the ninth chancellor of Germany after the war was not in doubt since his social democratic party SPD won the legislative elections with 206 seats against 197 of the conservative Christian Democratic Union until now in power.
Scholz is supported by the Greens (118 seats) and the FDP Liberals (92), who form the new ruling coalition.
The result of this vote marks Angela Merkel’s retirement after four terms. For just nine days, the iconic leader will not have broken Helmut Kohl’s longevity record in power.
The outgoing Chancellor was present during the vote and received long applause from the deputies.
After the election of Scholz, the president of the European Commission, Ursuya von der Leyen, hoped to work with him “for a strong Europe“While Russia hoped to maintain” a constructive relationship “with the new leader, at a time when tensions are strong between the EU and Moscow.
“There is no alternative but dialogue to resolve the most serious differences,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov.
Parity government
The leader, who has chained tributes in recent weeks, will definitely leave the Foreign Ministry after a transfer of powers ceremony with Scholz, adversary and ally, Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor in the last four years.
Merkel, still high in popularity, puts an end to 31 years of political career, half of them head of the first European economy and fourth in the world.
A convinced feminist, Scholz will take the reins of a government composed for the first time in Germany by equal numbers of men and women.
Three of them will lead key ministries: the ecologist Annalena Baerbock in Foreign Affairs and the Social Democrats Christine Lambrecht and Nancy Faeser in Defense and Interior respectively.
Also for the first time since the 1950s there will be three parties in the German cabinet.
Despite electoral programs sometimes in the antipodes, the SPD, the Greens and the FDP managed to quickly agree on a program that focuses on climate protection, budgetary rigor and Europe.
Christian Lindner, leader of the Liberals and supporter of budget austerity, will assume the important Finance portfolio.
Health crisis
The newly launched coalition will have to face the worst health crisis since the appearance of covid-19, with hospitals under heavy pressure.
The wave of infections led the government to impose tough restrictions for the unvaccinated, that they cannot enter restaurants, cultural places and, in some regions like Berlin, shops.
The new executive’s strategy goes through mandatory vaccination, desired by Scholz and that could be applied from February or March.
The Social Democratic leader, former mayor of Hamburg, will entrust the Health portfolio to Karl Lauterbach, a doctor by training and supporter of restrictive measures.
The new government is also expected on the international scene amidst the geopolitical turmoil with Russia and China.
Scholz has not yet commented on the “diplomatic boycott” announced by the United States against the Winter Olympics in Beijing, but the new head of diplomacy does not rule out following in Washington’s footsteps.
Annalena Baerbock promised to adopt a firmer tone than the previous government towards Russia, whose accumulation of troops on the border with Ukraine increases fear of possible aggression.
In keeping with tradition, Scholz will book his first visit abroad in France. This Wednesday, the president Emmanuel Macron, who will receive the new chancellor on Friday, hoped to “write the future together.” (I)
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