Mr. Olaf Scholz was elected Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.
On December 8, the German Federal Parliament elected Mr. Olaf Scholz, 63 years old, as Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, succeeding Ms. Angela Merkel after 16 consecutive years of ruling the government in Europe's largest economy.
With a total of 416 seats in the National Assembly, the "Traffic Light" coalition, consisting of the three Social Democratic parties (SPD), the Green Party and the Free Democratic Party (FDP), won more than half of the necessary votes (only 369/736 seats in the National Assembly) to easily elect Mr. Scholz as German Chancellor.
According to VNA, in the vote at the National Assembly, Mr. Olaf Scholz received 395/707 votes in favor.
 |
| Mr. Olaf Scholz becomes German Chancellor. Photo: AFP/TTXVN |
Earlier, Speaker of the National Assembly Bärbel Bas presided over and delivered a speech in gratitude to veteran politician Merkel after 16 years in power in Germany. Members of the National Assembly gave a long round of applause to express their gratitude to this leader. Ms. Merkel also stood up and waved her hand several times to show her gratitude to the members of the National Assembly.
The Federal Chancellor of Germany is considered one of the most powerful positions in Germany, although in terms of protocol he is only third in rank after the Federal President (head of state) and the President of the Bundestag.
Ms. Merkel has been Chancellor since November 22, 2005, leading the Grand Coalition Government consisting of the two largest parties in Germany, the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD).
After the 20th National Assembly was elected and began working on October 26, Ms. Merkel only served as acting Chancellor until a new leader was elected. With 16 years in office, Ms. Merkel is second only to Mr. Helmut Kohl in terms of the longest tenure as German Chancellor.
New Chancellor Olaf Scholz, born June 14, 1958, in Osnabrück (Niedersachsen state), joined the SPD in 1975.
From October 2002 to March 2004, he was Secretary General of the SPD. From November 2009 to December 2019, he was one of the Federal Vice-Chairmen of the SPD. He also led the SPD from February to April 2018.
In government, from May to October 2001, Mr. Scholz was Minister of the Interior of Hamburg.
From November 2007 to October 2009, he was the Federal Minister of Labor and Social Affairs of Germany. From March 2011 to March 2018, he was First Mayor of Hamburg. Since March 14, 2018, he has been Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister of Finance during Merkel's fourth term.
In the parliamentary election on September 26, Mr. Scholz, as the chancellor candidate of the SPD - the party that came first in the election, became the head of the German Government.
Mr. Schloz is the fourth SPD Chancellor after veteran politicians Willy Brandt, Helmut Schmidt and Gerhard Schröder.
According to the agenda, after being elected by the National Assembly by secret ballot, Mr. Scholz will go to the Presidential Palace to receive the appointment decision, then take the oath of office before the National Assembly.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will also appoint ministers on Mr Scholz's proposal, who will then be sworn in on the same day in parliament.
The new government includes 7 SPD ministerial positions (in addition to the Chancellor), 5 Green ministerial positions and 4 FDP positions.
The Vice Chancellor is Mr. Robert Habeck (Chairman of the Green Party), who is also the Federal Minister of Economics and Climate Protection. The German Foreign Minister is Ms. Annalena Baerbock (Co-Chairman of the Green Party).