The announcement, which Boris Pistorius made in a video posted to SDP social media channels, clears the way for incumbent chancellor Olaf Scholz to run for a second term.
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00:00Germany's defense minister Boris Pistorius has said he won't run for chancellor in February's
00:07snap elections.
00:09In a video posted to SDP social media channels, Pistorius said he's not available and would
00:14instead support Olaf Scholz's re-election bid.
00:18Pistorius, currently polling as Germany's most popular politician, said his decision
00:23not to run against Scholz was sovereign and entirely personal.
00:27Scholz called a snap election after the collapse of the coalition in early November.
00:32That came after Scholz fired the then-finance minister Christian Lindner.
00:36Scholz told the press at the time that Lindner had broken his trust too many times.
00:41As per German election rules, the Bundestag will hold a government confidence vote on
00:45December 16 before voters head to the polls on February 23.
00:50The traffic light coalition has governed Germany since 2021 and its collapse meant Scholz's
00:56government no longer had a majority in parliament.
00:59The SDP confirmed on Thursday that they would nominate Scholz as their lead candidate for
01:04chancellor next week.
01:05But according to current opinion polls, support for the Social Democratic Party is low.
01:11A tally published on Thursday by political research group Infratest-D-Map shows the CDU-CSU
01:17polling at 33 percent, with the SPD trailing behind at 14 percent, level with the Greens.
01:26For more UN videos visit www.un.org