Olaf Scholz takes reins from Angela Merkel for new German era

Olaf Scholz has been sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, ending 16 years with Angela Merkel at the helm.

Olaf Scholz flanked by Robert Habeck, left, and Christian Lindner in Berlin on Tuesday. Picture: AFP

Olaf Scholz has been sworn in as Chancellor of Germany, ending 16 years with Angela Merkel at the helm as a new ­centre left-led coalition takes the wheel of ­Europe’s top economy.

Mr Scholz, who won 395 of the 707 votes cast in the Bundestag lower house to be elected Chancellor, has pledged broad “continuity” with Ms Merkel while making Germany greener and fairer.

Asked by Speaker Baerbel Bas whether he accepted the election, a beaming Mr Scholz nodded “yes”. He was then whisked by motorcade to Berlin’s Bellevue Palace to be ­officially named Germany’s ninth post-war chancellor by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier before his swearing-in back at the Reichstag parliament building.

The finance minister under Ms Merkel led his Social Democrats to victory in the September 26 election – an outcome that was considered unthinkable at the start of the year given the party’s then festering divisions and anaemic support.

Mr Scholz, 63, who turned emulating Ms Merkel in style and substance into a winning strategy, has now cobbled together Germany’s first national “traffic light coalition” with the Greens and the liberal Free Democrats, nicknamed after the parties’ colours. Their four-year pact, sealed late last month, is called Dare for More Progress, a nod to Social Democrat Willy Brandt’s 1969 pledge to Dare for More Democracy.

“We have a chance for a new beginning for Germany,” Mr Scholz told his party at the weekend as it gave its blessing to the coalition agreement with 99 per cent support.

The alliance aims to slash carbon emissions, overhaul digital infrastructure, modernise citizenship laws, lift the minimum wage and have Germany join a handful of countries worldwide in legalising marijuana.

French President Emmanuel Macron congratulated Mr Scholz, saying “we will write the next chapter together”, while EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said she looked forward to working together for a “strong ­Europe”.

Vladimir Putin said Russia was offering “constructive ties” with the new government.

The incoming foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, has pledged a tougher line with ­authoritarian states such as Russia and China after the business-driven pragmatism of the Merkel years. Ms Baerbock, the Greens co-leader, is one of eight women in Germany’s first gender-balanced cabinet.

“That corresponds to the ­society we live in – half of the power belongs to women,” Mr Scholz, who describes himself as a feminist, said this week.

A vicious fourth Covid wave has already put the incoming ­coalition government to the test.

“We have to make a fresh start while facing down the corona pandemic – those are the circumstances the new govern­ment is up against,” Mr Scholz said on Tuesday, flanked by his designated finance and economy ministers, Christian Lindner and Robert Habeck.

More than 103,000 people have died with coronavirus in Germany, and new infections have surged since the weather turned cold, filling intensive care units to breaking point.

Mr Scholz has thrown his weight behind Germany following Austria in making jabs mandatory to get the pandemic under control, as experts say the worst is still to come for the country’s struggling clinics. He aims to have parliament vote on the issue before the year is out, with a view to implementing the law in February or March.

Ms Merkel, 67, Germany’s first female chancellor, is retiring from politics after four consecutive terms, the first post-war leader to step aside of her own accord. She leaves big shoes to fill, with large majorities of Germans approving of her leadership, even if her own party, the conservative Christian Democrats, often bridled against her moderate course.

“For 16 years, Angela Merkel defined the political centre,” columnist Nikolas Blome said. “If she were running again, she would win a fifth term.”

Despite being from a rival party, Mr Scholz tapped into that well of popular support in his bid to succeed her.

The left-leaning daily Tageszeitung recently joked about the similarities between the two politicians on its front page, with the pandemic-era headline “Merkel Variant Prevails” and a picture of a grinning Mr Scholz.

Her successor has, however, pledged to tackle the widening gap between rich and poor.

The independent Centre for European Economic Research said in an analysis of the coalition pact that lower-income Germans and parents stood to gain the most from its policies.

AFP