Germany's center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) on Monday confirmed Finance Minister Olaf Scholz as their candidate for Chancellor at next year's elections.
"Now it's out," Scholz tweeted on Monday. "I look forward to a fun, fair and successful election campaign."
SPD leaders Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter-Borjans also confirmed the nomination on Twitter with identical statements, saying that Scholz had the "Chancellor aura." They also acknowledged that picking Scholz, who is a divisive figure in the party, may not be a popular choice.
"We know that this decision represents an unexpected turn of events for some," the two party leaders said. "We ask you to have faith in our path. We are determined to walk this path together."
The party, which for decades vied with Merkel’s Christian Democrats to dominate the political scene, has not won a national election since 2002 and now languishes a distant third in most polls behind the conservatives and the upstart Greens, Reuters reported.
