Olaf Scholz, the SPD's outgoing finance minister, doesn't strike many voters as the radical type - even if he does end up including the Left Party (Photo: German Finance Ministry)

Scholz would be foolish to rule out a left-wing coalition

Rule of Law

Opinion

by Nick Ottens, Amsterdam,

Christian Democrats in Germany are resorting to a tried-and-tested method to win back voters from the centre-left: warn that the alternative to them is a government with former communists.

Armin Laschet, the joint chancellor-candidate of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and Christian Social Union (CSU), called on Olaf Scholz, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader, in a televised debate on Sunday to rule out an alliance with Die Linke [The Left], which was formed out of the former...

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Rule of Law Opinion

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s, not those of EUobserver

Author Bio

Nick Ottens is the founder of Atlantic Sentinel, a transatlantic opinion website, and has written for the NRC newspaper in the Netherlands, the Atlantic Council's blog, World Politics Review, and various other publications. He is a member of the Netherlands' VVD.

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Olaf Scholz, the SPD's outgoing finance minister, doesn't strike many voters as the radical type - even if he does end up including the Left Party (Photo: German Finance Ministry)