On Saturday, Germany's ruling Social Democrats (SPD) formally declared incumbent Chancellor Olaf Scholz the party's candidate for federal elections scheduled for February 23,
DW reports.
SPD delegates at the party congress in Berlin overwhelmingly voted to maintain Scholz's leadership, with only a few delegates opposing.
During a speech at the conference, Scholz said that Germany was standing at a "crossroads."
He called for fair wages, affordable housing and stable pensions for "ordinary people" while accusing his main challenger, the CDU/CSU conservative alliance, of engaging in politics designed "for the top 10%."
He said it was unclear what the CDU/CSU stood for and argued that it had not developed clear policies to tackle the country's labor shortage or the transition towards clean energy.
Scholz also called for the principles of sovereign borders to be protected, days after US President-elect Donald Trump called for Washington to take control of Greenland.
"This is a principle that every state must abide by, whether it's a small state or a big and powerful one," Scholz said.
"No country is the backyard of another, no country should have to fear its bigger neighbors. That is a central part of what we call Western values."
In 2021, 96.2% of delegates voted in favor of nominating Scholz for chancellor in a secret ballot. The SPD became the largest party in parliament, leading Scholz to form a coalition government with the environmentalist Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP).
