Sigmar Gabriel, the German social democrat leader, has turned down the chance to run against Angela Merkel in this year’s parliamentary election, in a shock decision that throws his party into confusion and adds to the uncertainty overshadowing European politics Mr Gabriel, who is also Ms Merkel’s deputy chancellor, is standing aside in favour of former European Parliament chief Martin Schulz, who will also take Mr Gabriel’s post as SPD chairman. Mr Gabriel revealed his surprise decision on Wednesday in an exclusive interview with the weekly magazine Stern, which was widely followed by German media and confirmed to the Financial Times by two senior SPD representatives.
Mr Gabriel’s announcement ends months of agonising, during which observers almost unanimously concluded that the energetic and ambitious 57-year-old would not turn down the opportunity to challenge Ms Merkel. But even his strongest supporters admitted that the chances of beating the chancellor were negligible. While both the SPD and Ms Merkel’s CDU/CSU bloc have lost ground to the right-wing Alternative for Germany in the wake of the refugee crisis, the social democrats have been left in the worse position.
Mr Gabriel told Stern: “If I now stand, I would fail and so, with me, would the SPD.” Mr Schulz “clearly has the better election prospects.”
Full Article: German social democrat leader pulls out of Merkel challenge.