Germany’s popular defense minister has taken himself out of contention to become the country’s next leader, clearing the way for Chancellor Olaf Scholz to seek

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said he won’t compete to lead the Social Democratic Party into an early federal election in February and threw his support behind Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s reelection bid.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was set to run for a second term in upcoming snap elections after his popular Defence Minister Boris Pistorius - a possible replacement - ruled himself out of the running on Thursday.

While Chancellor Olaf Scholz meets world leaders in Brazil, a discussion is swirling in his party at home about whether he should seek a second term as German leader in an early election expected in February.

Boris Pistorius has ruled himself out as the next leader of Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD), clearing the path for Chancellor Olaf Scholz to take the embattled party into snap elections.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius told members of the ruling Social Democrats that he would not run as chancellor candidate for the party in February's snap election, clearing the way for Chancellor Olaf Scholz to run for a second term.

The deputy chairman of the Germany's Social Democrats (SPD) on Saturday criticized intra-party squabbling over whether to replace Chancellor Olaf Scholz as the party's top candidate for upcoming elections.