“This is generally a problem for us in Germany that many things take far too long,” Laschet said. As well as reiterating an appeal for more Germans to get vaccinated against COVID-19, he pledged to speed up planning approvals and slash bureaucracy.

He was back on TV first thing Monday, answering questions from a voter on ARD. But his campaign has been undermined by a high-profile gaffes during Germany’s summer floods and a persistent struggle to energize his party But his campaign has been undermined by a high-profile gaffes during Germany’s summer floods and a persistent struggle to energize his party.Īrmin Laschet, the state premier of North Rhine Westphalia, had been a strong favorite to retain the chancellorship for the Christian Democrats after clinching the conservatives’ nomination in April. Laschet, the state premier of North Rhine Westphalia, had been a strong favorite to retain the chancellorship for the Christian Democrats after clinching the conservatives’ nomination in April. A separate poll by Forschungsgruppe Wahlen had Scholz leading Baerbock by 32 percent to 26 percent, with Laschet on 20 percent. Annalena Baerbock, the Greens’ candidate, was seen as the best performer by 25 percent.

Scholz’s rival from Merkel’s conservative bloc, Armin Laschet, tried to use the second of three televised debates on Sunday night to get back in the race, dredging up controversies involving the Social Democrats’ candidate and highlighting a raid last week on the finance ministry.Ī snap Infratest-dimap poll of 1,500 viewers for ARD suggested those hardball tactics had failed: 41 percent of respondents judged Scholz the winner with just 27 percent favoring Laschet. Two weeks before Germany goes to the polls in a watershed election, center-left front-runner Olaf Scholz fended off attacks over his track record as finance minister to consolidate his position as the most likely successor to Chancellor Angela Merkel. Election campaign posters of the Christian Union parties show Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet (left) with the slogan 'Determined for Germany' and the Social Democratic Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz with the slogan 'Chancellor for Germany - Whoever wants Scholz votes the SPD' at a street Germany on Sept 12, 2021.

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