Vice-Chancellor and party candidate Olaf Scholz does not want the SPD to abandon its self-image of setting up a chancellor candidate in a Bundestag election. A criticism of his rival for the party leadership Norbert Walter -Borjans he criticized: "Who does that makes the SPD small - and the Social Democratic Party does not deserve," said Scholz the "Tagesspiegel".
The Federal Finance Minister reiterated that the SPD could win in a federal election with the right candidate quickly ten percentage points. When asked if he was this candidate, Scholz said according to the interview: "We are only now in the process of electing chairpersons."
Walter-Borjans had said in the SPIEGEL debate that he did not believe "that we would be here at the moment to set up a chancellor candidate." Days later he said: If it becomes apparent before the general election that the SPD could lead a government, "we will of course say who should become Chancellor".
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The SPD members can vote from Tuesday to November 29 in a runoff election on the new party leadership. Scholz is running against Klara Geywitz against the duo Saskia Esken / Walter-Borjans. On 30 November, the SPD wants to announce which duo won the second round. Thereafter, a party congress will confirm the winners and vote on the continuation of GroKo.
Plan to male clubs "possibly unconstitutional"
In the interview, Scholz also defended his push for a cancellation of tax benefits for pure men's clubs against criticism from the Union. "It's about clubs that consistently and deliberately do not allow women to join - without any factual reason," he said. CDU Vice Armin Laschet had spoken about referring to miners' classics of a "frontal attack on the honorary office". The club law expert Johannes Fein described Scholz 'plan in the SPIEGEL interview as "possibly unconstitutional".
The Vice Chancellor also welcomed in the "Tagesspiegel" interview the planned construction of a factory of the e-car manufacturer Tesla in Brandenburg. With regard to German industry representatives, he said: "The German companies will invest billions in new vehicle technology investments and I am sure that they will continue to lead the way."