BERLIN – Germany’s main opposition party sought Wednesday to inject new life into its election hopes after a surprise move to select a combative former E.U. official to challenge Chancellor Angela Merkel.
But the bid by the opposition Social Democratic Party to unseat Merkel in September does not appear to play on the populist and anti-immigrant sentiments rocking the political systems in places such as neighboring France.
Both the Social Democrats and Merkel’s Christian Democrats are strongly in favor of keeping together the European Union amid internal strains from Britain’s decision to leave and the rise of right-wing groups questioning E.U. powers.
The new opposition leader, former E.U. Parliament president Martin Schulz, had backed Merkel’s policies to allow in more than 1 million migrants since 2015 – including many from war-battered nations such as Syria and Iraq. Schulz is also a fervent backer of the European Union.
The Social Democrat’s reshuffle highlights it challenge to try to carve out a different identity from Merkel’s political base. Schulz replaces the deputy chancellor, Sigmar Gabriel, who had been widely seen as the mostly likely challenger in Sept. 24 parliamentary elections.
At a joint news conference in Berlin, Gabriel said he was convinced that Schulz had the “best chances.”
“I’m sure he’s the right one.” Schulz accepted the nomination, saying he was “deeply moved.”
Members of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Party appeared to take the unexpected news calmly. “Neither are we going to panic now, nor fall into depression,” the party’s deputy chairman Thomas Strobl told the DPA news agency.
Jürgen Falter, a political science professor at the University of Mainz, did not view Schulz as a serious threat to Merkel and her center-right party.
Merkel’s party currently heads the polls with 37 percent, while only 21 percent of voters are supporting the Social Democrats. But Falter agreed with the opposition’s assessment that Schulz is a better candidate than Gabriel to try to cut into Merkel’s lead.
“He comes across as more human, more authentic, less distant than Gabriel,” said Falter.
Schulz has spoken openly about his past personal life, including periods of unemployment and alcohol abuse. He has a reputation of not mincing his words and observers expect him to lead a tough-minded campaign.
While Schulz is known as an advocated for a tightknit and more democratic Europe, his domestic policy agenda is still unclear.
At a news conference, Schulz remained rather vague. “We want the hard-working people in this country, who stick to the rules, to live safely and well here in Germany,” he said.
Analyst Falter thinks that Schulz is unlikely to strongly oppose Angela Merkel in one of the most contentious political issues in Germany: how to deal with the large influx of asylum seekers. One effort sought to spread the migrant burden across the 28-nation bloc.
“He supported Merkel’s refugee policy on an E.U. level and failed due to a lack of support of the quotas among the member states,” Falter said.
“As a response to Trump, we must keep Europe together. And Martin Schulz is not the worst candidate for that,” Green Party lawmaker Jürgen Trittin told reporters.
Falter suggested the “visibility and prestige” of his former position as president of the European parliament is likely to help Schulz.
“It will only harm him with a minority of E.U. skeptics,” he said,
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