In a recent development, German Labor Minister and SPD Vice, Hubertus Heil, has spoken of a brief internal party debate regarding reports that the SPD leadership had suggested Olaf Scholz consider relinquishing his candidacy. In an interview with the Mediengruppe Bayern, Heil stated, “There was a few days of internal party debate in November, but that’s behind us.” He emphasized that all Social Democrats are “Team Scholz” and he himself is included in that group. The party, Heil explained, has “consciously chosen Olaf Scholz because it’s about presenting a well-experienced and composed federal chancellor to run against Friedrich Merz.”
Earlier, the online news portal T-Online and the Berlin-based newspaper, Tagesspiegel, reported that SPD Chief Lars Klingbeil had allegedly repeatedly suggested to Scholz that he consider stepping down as a candidate for the chancellorship.