Pistorius gives up Social Democrats' candidacy for prime minister

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius cannot run for Social Democratic chancellor. He said in a video posted online that evening that he had “just” communicated this to party and parliamentary group leadership. After a controversial public debate, the path is now clear for German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to run again as chancellor. According to the dpa news agency, nominations will be made at a meeting of the party's executive committee on Monday.

The debate begins with Mutzenich and the “sensation” within the party

The collapse of the traffic light coalition comes amid growing debate within the Social Democrats over whether it would not be better to run with Pistorius. Given his significantly higher approval ratings and better electoral chances, an increasing number of SPD politicians at local, state and federal levels are openly supporting him.

The SPD leadership had backed Scholz, but they initially did not nominate him as chancellor candidate after deciding to hold new elections on February 23. The public debate began when Rolf Mützenich, leader of the Social Democratic Party's parliamentary group, issued a statement saying that there was “discussion” within the party about the K issue.

Pistorius just wants to rule out becoming pope

Pistorius did nothing to stop them for several days. On the contrary: “In politics you should never exclude anything, no matter what it is,” the SPD politician said on Monday at an event organized by the Bavarian media group in Passau. “The only thing I can rule out for sure is that I will become pope,” he added with a wink. However, Pistorius later also talked about the candidacy of finance minister: “It was not in my life plan and, to be honest, it was not necessary.”

Scholz made his claim early on

Scholz himself had already announced his case in July, long before the collapse of the Traffic Light Alliance: “As chancellor, I will run for chancellor again,” he said at the time. He hasn't repeated this statement explicitly in the past few days – obviously so as not to give the impression that he wants to choose himself.

The next regular meeting of the 34-member party executive committee is scheduled to be held at 11:30 am next Monday. The party congress will vote on the candidacy on January 11. Usually this is a formality. The candidate's first official speech should take place well in advance: at the “Elector Victory Conference” in Berlin on November 30. (Sudanese Development Authority/Department of Political Affairs)

For ETH climate policy scientist Anthony Patt, the UN World Climate Conference in Baku ended in frustration. Still, as he said in the interview, there is hope for climate protection. Even in the United States, climate change denier Donald Trump will soon rule the country.

Environmental researchers calculate that industrialized countries must provide emerging countries a trillion dollars a year for climate protection and adaptation. At the United Nations climate conference COP29, rich countries including Switzerland pledged only $300 billion per year from 2035. Are you disappointed?
Anthony Pat: Sure, it was frustrating, but I didn't expect anything else. My expectations for the UN climate change conference have never been high. However, it is important that it happens. Too little financial aid is still better than none, even if it's not enough to put the world on track.