Who is Olaf Schulz, Germany’s new ‘incredibly similar’ chancellor to Angela Merkel?

Schultz, 63, has been on the front lines of German politics for years, so it wouldn’t come as a surprise to voters.

Seen as a file Ensure stability and moderationAnd in the September elections, he was able to lead the German left to a victory it had been resisting for years.

The BBC’s Germany correspondent Jenny Hill asserts that “Chancellor Schulz is not known for his charisma or inspiring speeches. In fact, in his style, attitude and even policies he is incredibly similar to Angela Merkel.”

Married to his SPD partner Britta Ernst, he grew up in Hamburg and entered politics as a leader of the Young Socialists, having studied labor law.

He served as mayor of Hamburg from 2011 to 2018 and was first elected to the Bundestag in 1998.

Since 2018 it has been Vice President and Minister of Finance in Merkel’s coalition government.

His pragmatic handling of the COVID-19 crisis has earned him plenty of praise and a high approval rating.

As Finance Minister, Olaf Schultz oversaw the emergency financing package for 750,000 million euros (US$884,000 million) Produced by the federal government to help German companies and workers survive the pandemic.

“We put all our weapons on the table to show that we are strong enough to overcome any economic challenges this issue may pose,” Schultz said.

He presided over cabinet meetings when Chancellor Merkel was forced to self-isolate as a precaution.

Despite all the problems caused by the pandemic, Schulz has had a platform to administer the enormous amount of benefits the state offers and to fight for social cohesion, according to his leftist roots.

And before announcing his candidacy for the position of chancellor, in response to a question about whether he would run, he said: “We have to work, and not let ourselves indulge in vanity.”

With France, Schulze was too Payback Fund Engineer European Union.

However, his critics question his record as finance minister and accuse him of failure Two big financial scandals: Wirecard and commercial fraud.

The collapse of payments company Wirecard was Germany’s biggest fraud scandal, and a report this year said Scholz was responsible for the failure of the German regulator.

He has also fallen into a dividend scam the ex-VP because he was the mayor of Hamburg when millions of euros were lost.

However, neither issue hurt him much in the election. Commentators noted that the scandals were too complex for voters to care about.

Within the ranks of the Social Democratic Party Olaf Schultz He is seen as conservative. The party is led by Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter Burgess, who are also leftists.

Indeed, voters have promised to continue after 16 years of Merkel’s conservative rule.

The SPD has been a junior partner in Merkel’s Christian Democratic coalition (CDU) for most of the past eight years, and many party members have complained that the policies agreed upon by the “grand coalition” have been too conservative.

Now, Schulz will have to come to terms with his coalition partners, led by young politicians and their forces together getting more votes than the SPD, so the new chancellor will have to make concessions to fellow travelers and it will take effort. deal maker.

You can now receive push notifications from BBC News Mundo. Download and activate our app so you don’t miss our best content.