The Social Democratic Party of Germany is finally receiving a Federal Chancellor from its own ranks again. The time has come on Saturday for the ordinary federal party conference at the Berlin fair. Olaf Scholz, as the new German head of government, was just on his first visit to Paris and Brussels, where he was greeted everywhere as a man who has been known and valued for a long time. Now, like a week ago when the coalition agreement was approved, he is standing in front of the comrades again. On the fourth day of his chancellorship, they made him wait just over an hour and a half for his appearance, because many posts had to be chosen. Scholz is not a man who kindles cheers. And the fact that it is the same this time is not only due to the factthat due to the corona pandemic, few participants can take part directly in the hall.

He was never a favorite of the federal party

Eckart Lohse

Head of the parliamentary editorial office in Berlin.

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Markus Wehner

Political correspondent in Berlin.

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Scholz has been a professional politician for 20 years and has absorbed a lot during that time. He has also learned that political messages have to be uttered again and again in order to get through to the people. This is how he had set up his election campaign, and this is how he speaks after the election. He also speaks of respect, of solidarity in society, of the minimum wage that will soon come, of stable pensions. About the fact that, despite globalization and digitization, people have to be sure that they will continue to find secure jobs, even in a modernized industry. And it depends on the citizens' trust in politics. You should be sure that what was said before the election would be done afterwards. He has firmly resolved that it will come this way for his work as Chancellor."Dear comrades, I am counting on you to support this work." That sounds like a matter of course.

But it is probably not that natural when you consider the difficult relationship between Scholz and the SPD.

The new chancellor is of course, unlike the new and old SPD chairwoman Saskia Esken once suspected, a real social democrat.

He had been active with the Jusos since the 1980s, at that time still on the far left wing.

For many years he was district and even longer state chairman in Hamburg, and was also deputy chairman of the federal party for ten years.

And yet the SPD is a difficult stage for Scholz.

He was never a favorite of the party in the Federal SPD.

Even more: the party inflicted the worst defeats on him in his career.

Two major defeats mark his path

One was a long time ago, sixteen years. It was the second government under Gerhard Schröder, who was also party chairman at the time. And it was the time of Agenda 2010 and the protests against Hartz IV. Scholz was Schröder's general secretary, and even then he was such that he repeated the statements that he found correct with mostly stoic calm and against all criticism. So Scholz defended the labor market reforms that got the whole SPD going. The criticism of them is unjustified, the reforms are sensible, balanced and therefore permissible. The Secretary General said this so consistently and steadfastly that the press gave him the nickname “Scholzomat” - a term that many years later he described as “quite apt”. Back then, Scholz threw himself into the breach for Schröder.And because many in the SPD did not want to damage the Chancellor, but wanted to vent their displeasure, they beat his general instead: Scholz received only 52.6 percent of the votes when he was re-elected as Secretary General in November 2003, so he almost fell through. In contrast, the meager 77 percent that Kevin Kühnert received on Saturday in Berlin is a dream result. When Schröder resigned as party chairman in 2004, he was followed by his general secretary.a dream result. When Schröder resigned as party chairman in 2004, he was followed by his general secretary.a dream result. When Schröder resigned as party chairman in 2004, he was followed by his general secretary.