The German Social Democrats (SPD) are nominating Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz as the party's chancellor candidate in the new election expected on February 23, according to German media. The nomination is to be approved by a party congress in January.
In recent weeks, voices have been raised to replace the deeply unpopular Scholz with Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who regularly tops lists of Germany's most popular politicians.
Scholz's three-party coalition with The Liberals and The Green Party collapsed after a budget dispute earlier this fall. Since then, the Social Democrat has been leading a minority government, which is expected to lose a vote of no confidence in the federal parliament on December 16.
