Hélène Kohl edited by Ugo Pascolo 6:19 am, December 8, 2021

This Wednesday, the Merkel years officially come to an end.

The new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will take the oath and enter the costume after a solemn vote in the Bundestag.

But who is this former Minister of Finance who is seeking the highest political office across the Rhine?

It enters the costume worn for years by Angela Merkel.

It is this Wednesday, after a solemn vote in the Bundestag, that the new German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, will officially take office, and by the same to end the Merkel years.

For the fourth time, Germany will be ruled by a Social Democrat.

Because if Olaf Scholz was Angela Merkel's finance minister, he is nonetheless a man with left-wing ideas.

A commitment that he made concrete from his teenage years with the SPD. 

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A former leftist turned lawyer

At the time of reunification, the then lawyer specializing in labor law defended thousands of East German workers.

Mayor of Hamburg then for 7 years, he fought against rising rents.

This does not prevent him from having experienced a few scandals and having been indirectly linked to a case of tax evasion.

He won the September elections without going too far on the big issues, and it was the coalition negotiations that revealed his leadership capabilities.

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Get to work quickly

According to Frank Bassner, director of the Franco-German BSI institute, "he was always a little taciturn, he made cautious sentences. But here, we see him take his position, he seems to want to go," observes the specialist.

"His team seems to have strengths and now we have to get to work."

A job that will happen very quickly, since after a first council of ministers, the new chancellor will quickly visit Emmanuel Macron.