STORY: Germany's Scholz willing to run for 2nd term
SHOOTING TIME: July 24, 2024
DATELINE: July 25, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:00
LOCATION: Berlin
CATEGORY: POLITICS

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the summer press conference in Berlin

STORYLINE:

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday expressed his willingness to run for a second term in the 2025 national elections. His official nomination by the Social Democratic Party (SPD) remains pending, however.
   
"I will run to become chancellor again," said Scholz at the summer press conference in Berlin, emphasizing that the SPD is "very united" as a party. "We are all determined to go into the next federal election campaign together and win," he said.
   
Alongside solving budget problems, Scholz said a key task for the government is to toughen migration rules, while the shortage of skilled workers must be resolved by attracting talent from abroad. Immigration is stabilizing Germany, said Scholz, but "those who cannot stay must leave."
   
Scholz's first term in office was characterized by the COVID-19 pandemic, the energy crisis, and an economic downturn. In attempting to tackle the problems, his government coalition is divided on fundamental issues, with many disagreements becoming public.
   
Voter support for the SPD and its two coalition partners, the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the Greens, has dwindled in recent months. This has been reflected both in the polls and the poor European election results last month.
   
The governing parties only received a third of the vote, with the SPD garnering 13.9 percent, its worst result ever in a nationwide election. The opposing conservative CDU/CSU union and the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AFD) came out on top, with a combined total of more than 45 percent.
   
In a ranking of satisfaction with German politicians, the chancellor is in the middle of the field. His party colleague Boris Pistorius, the defense minister, receives the most trust from voters, followed by CDU/CSU members who currently only have governing responsibility at state level.
   
In the run-up to the federal elections in September 2025, Scholz hopes to win back voter support with plans for modernization and cohesion.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Berlin.
(XHTV)