BERLIN: Germany’s main opposition party embarked on an uphill struggle yesterday to oust Chancellor Angela Merkel, choosing a respected former finance minister as her challenger in next year’s election.
Peer Steinbrueck, 65, emerged as the center-left Social Democrats’ candidate after a monthslong guessing game over which of three potential challengers would face Merkel. Party leader Sigmar Gabriel declared that Steinbrueck was “the right candidate” for a campaign in which the party plans to make a major issue of “taming financial markets.”
The decision kicks off in earnest the race for the Parliamentary election expected next September.
The Social Democrats consistently trail Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats, and surveys show no majority for their hoped-for coalition with the Green party.
This time the Social Democrats are keen to avoid ending up as Merkel’s junior partner in another “grand coalition” of right and left, the combination in which Steinbrueck served as finance minister from 2005 to 2009.
The Social Democrats and the Greens have criticized Merkel for what they decry as a too-little, too-late response — but then they invariably end up supporting her plans in Parliament.
Steinbrueck has a reputation for plain speaking, which hasn’t always made him popular with fellow Social Democrats. As a minister, he once remarked that his party was appearing to the public like “crybabies” in the face of Merkel’s popularity.
Ex-minister to challenge Merkel in polls
