Germany’s conservative candidate drums up fears over potential left-wing pact
Potsdam, Germany, Sep 4 (EFE).- Conservative candidate for the German chancellery Armin Laschet on Saturday warned against a possible government pact between his center-left rival Olaf Scholz, the favorite according to surveys, and the Left.
“Will Scholz accept a minister from the Left or not if he reaches the Chancellery? Why is he not able to answer that question with a yes or no,” Laschet told members of his Christian Democratic Union party in the northeastern state of Brandenburg.
“Our situation is not easy, I know. But I also know that we will defend the Chancellery,” he added.
According to polling, Laschet’s bloc, made up of the CDU and the Bavarian Social Christian Union (CSU), could come second in the 26 September elections.
The surveys found that 70% of respondents believe Scholz, from the Social Democratic Party (SPD), to be a more capable chancellor, compared to 25% who see Laschet as better prepared to take over from his long-serving colleague Angela Merkel.
Merkel, officially on the sidelines of the campaign, recently rejected any notion that Scholz, currently the vice-chancellor and finance minister, represented a more natural successor to her government precisely because he would not rule out a deal with the Left.
The Left, in the doldrums, is expected to obtain between 6 and 7% in this month’s election compared to its 9.2% in 2017, according to polls.
It could, however, be a part of a three-way alliance with the SPD and the Greens. EFE
gc/ta
