Federal election 2025: Pistorius did not want to make Scholz a “lame duck”.

SPD leader Lars Klingbeil wants to announce a decision soon on how the party will proceed with the question of the candidate for chancellor. He said this in a podcast Picture. He did not give an exact date, but instead referred to schedules agreed internally within the party leadership. Stick to that. “I’m not going to let journalists, not even representatives of the political movement, dictate a timetable for me, but we as party leaders have to decide that ourselves,” said Klingbeil.

He is currently talking to a lot of people and listening to the party to get a sense of the mood. With a view to the statements from the SPD for Defense Minister Boris Pistorius as a possible candidate for chancellor, Klingbeil said that the feedback he personally received was different and more differentiated. His task in the next few days is to create unity.

The deputy parliamentary group leader Achim Post from the NRW SPD urges haste. The regional association will discuss intensively over the next few days, but will not make a decision. “In the end, of course, we need a consensual decision at the federal level,” he says.

Incumbent Olaf Scholz wants to run again for the SPD in the new elections scheduled for February 23rd. The party leadership has repeatedly reiterated its support for him, but has not been able to stop the debate. Pistorius is significantly more popular in surveys. Many SPD politicians have spoken out in favor of him as a candidate in the past few days.