Armin Laschet, Annalena Baerbock and Olaf Scholz: They want to succeed Angela Merkel as Chancellor candidate in 2021.
A candidate overview.
Berlin - Can he or she Chancellor: in? After 16 years Angela Merkel (CDU) in the Chancellery, this question is particularly loud in the super election year 2021. Because the incumbent disappears from the German seat of government, someone new is supposed to move in and manage the affairs of government in Germany. It is therefore a special federal election campaign - in which even three parties send a candidate for chancellor into the ring: CDU / CSU, SPD and the Greens. This is a first for the Greens.
The alliances made the decisions about the right candidate for Chancellor in 2021 with varying amounts of media noise.
The SPD wanted to be particularly early, Olaf Scholz was nominated as early as August 2020.
The Chancellor candidate for the Greens, Annalena Baerbock, chose the two party leaders without much ado about the selection process in mid-April.
Quite different with the Union: Armin Laschet and Markus Söder fought a tough power duel at the same time - the conflicts in the CDU and CSU were clearly visible.
But in the end they were determined, the three willing to power: Laschet, Baerbock and Scholz.
They started the election year as prime minister, party chairman and vice chancellor.
Three résumés with very different political experiences.
Chancellor candidate 2021: Armin Laschet wants to continue to control the Chancellery for the Union
+
Armin Laschet (CDU), Union candidate for chancellor
© Michael Kappeler / dpa
Armin Laschet has often shown perseverance and tenacity in his life.
Especially in his dispute with Markus Söder about the position as chancellor candidate for the federal election in 2021, the CDU politician had to take a lot: party comrades who did not prefer their own boss, tons of taunts and collusion
his ability to defend the Chancellery. But from the outside it seemed to bounce off him. Instead of looking at polls (which were very bad at the time of his appointment), he tried pointing out his substantive strengths. How he, as a glowing European, wants to make the continent fit again after Corona. How he wants to reconcile points of view.
Laschet cemented his reputation as a stand-up man. In the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia in 2017, he surprisingly replaced the red-green cabinet under Hannelore Kraft (SPD). Since then, he has been leading a black-yellow coalition with a wafer-thin majority in Düsseldorf, largely without a sound. His experience as prime minister in Germany's most populous federal state with very different lines of conflict leads supporters and he like to question whether he has what it takes to be chancellor.
From 1994 to 1998 Laschet sat in the German Bundestag, from 1999 to 2005 he was a member of the European Parliament.
Since 2010 he has had a place in the state parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia.
In his home state he also acted as minister for the subjects of family, women and integration and at times also for federal affairs, Europe and the media.
At the beginning of 2021, he prevailed against Friedrich Merz and Norbert Röttgen as party leader at an online party convention of the CDU.
Date of birth and place of birth |
February 18, 1961 in Aachen |
Family life |
Married, three children |
Education |
Law and Political Science |
Laschet is often seen as a “keep it up” candidate after Merkel.
He prefers to emphasize that there must be no “business as usual”.
But it is based on the motto “measure and middle”.
In terms of style, experts say, he would steer more than lead in the Chancellery.
He doesn't like polarizing.
Chancellor candidate 2021: Annalena Baerbock wants to be the first green chancellor to advance Germany
+
Annalena Baerbock, candidate for Chancellor of the Greens
© Kay Nietfeld / dpa
Annalena Baerbock has everything under control for the Greens. She prevailed against her colleague Robert Habeck and is now planning to lead the Greens to power as a candidate for chancellor. At the beginning of her candidacy, she took a good deal of momentum from a party that could boast of polls and shone with unprecedented unity. Baerbock, who likes to be aggressive and convinces with detailed knowledge, had to hear from the start that she lacked government experience. Her counterattack: “I stand for renewal. Others stand for the status quo. ”She also relies heavily on team spirit, for example in interaction with colleague Habeck in the top duo.
Climate protection is her topic - and of course that of her party.
She has been federal chairwoman of the Greens since 2018, and has been a member of the German Bundestag since 2013.
Before that, from 2005 to 2008 she was the office manager of a member of the European Parliament in Brussels and from 2008 to 2009 she was a foreign and security policy officer for the Greens parliamentary group.
Date of birth and place of birth |
December 15, 1980 in Hanover |
Family life |
married with two children |
Education |
Political Science and International Law |
Baerbock is among the three candidates for chancellor for departure.
Above all, she seems to be able to inspire more young voters, also because she is around 20 years younger than her opponents.
With the Greens, she is a “real” politician who, depending on the outcome of the election, may have to bring wing battles under control again.
She is said to work very meticulously, and when she appears she seems well prepared.
She is well networked in the party.
Chancellor candidate 2021: Olaf Scholz wants to lead the SPD back to the top of the government after 16 years
+
Olaf Scholz, SPD candidate for Chancellor
© Kay Nietfeld / dpa
Olaf Scholz did not become SPD party chairman, but is now running as a candidate for Chancellor in 2021 for the Social Democrats in the federal election. He can look back on many years of full political experience, but they are of little use to the Chancellery if his party does not become the strongest force. Around Easter, when the opponents were nominated by Scholz, the SPD looked into a deep abyss in its polls.
Scholz now knows exactly how projects in the Bundestag work: The politician was a member of the German parliament from 1998 to 2001 and 2002 to 2011.
In between he worked for a few months as a Senator for the Interior in Hamburg.
From 2007 to 2009, Scholz held the office of Federal Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, before returning to Hamburg as First Mayor from 2011 to 2018.
He then moved back to the federal government and has been Minister of Finance ever since.
He also acts as Vice Chancellor.
Date of birth and place of birth |
June 14, 1958 in Osnabrück |
Family life |
married |
Education |
law Sciences |
Scholz's demeanor is that of a very calm person who also dares to make big announcements.
For example, the “Bazooka” formulation for his promised Corona aid program will be remembered.
His party leaders Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter-Borjans are much more left-wing within the party than he is.
His challenge is to embody the SPD's election manifesto with himself.
Federal election 2021: which candidate for chancellor can delete the candidate ending after the election?
The federal election on September 26th could throw up the current balance of power in parliament. You can always read the current polls on the federal election here at Merkur.de. It will be exciting to see in which coalition Germany will continue to govern, because in the end it will also depend on which candidate for chancellor will have the opportunity to determine Germany's fate for several years.
(cibo)
