Wed 08 December 2021:
On Wednesday, German lawmakers chose Social Democrat Olaf Scholz as the country’s chancellor. This marked the end of Merkel’s 16-year term as Germany’s chancellor. Scholz’s election has prepared the way for a pro-European coalition administration that has pledged to increase green spending.
Scholz, 63, who served in Merkel’s outgoing government as vice chancellor and finance minister, received a decisive majority of 395 votes in the Bundestag lower house of parliament, according to Bundestag President Baerbel Bas.
Scholz, who waved and nodded while wearing a face mask as he received a standing ovation from MPs, was presented with flower bouquets and an apple basket by the heads of the parliamentary groupings.
Scholz will return to parliament to take the oath of office in front of the legislators after being nominated by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in the nearby Bellevue Castle.
Merkel will pass over the chancellery to the future leader of Europe’s greatest economy, which is dealing with a brutal fourth wave of coronavirus infections and authoritarian regime challenges to its democratic order.
Scholz has positioned himself as Merkel’s logical successor and a safe pair of hands to guide Germany through issues ranging from the climate catastrophe to dealing with a more hostile Russia and a more assertive China, thanks to his down-to-earth and no-nonsense demeanor.
Scholz will lead an unprecedented three-way ruling coalition on the federal level with the pro-spending, environmentalist Greens and the fiscally more conservative, libertarian Free Democrats (FDP) – unlikely political bedfellows in the past.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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