Schulz to challenge Merkel at polls

Set to be chosen Social Democratic Party leader, standard- bearer in Berlin

Martin Schulz on Sunday officially becomes Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chief challenger in Germany’s September general election and was set to lay out his plans for unseating the world’s most powerful woman.

The bearded Social Democrat, already credited with giving his ailing party a strong shot in the arm, will be anointed SPD leader and standard bearer at a oneday congress in Berlin.

German media predicted he could garner more than 90 percent of the vote from the country’s oldest political party.

In a speech to the SPD rank and file, Schulz was set to attempt to harness his momentum against Merkel, whose conservatives just a few months ago had an apparently invincible lead in the polls.

Speaking on Saturday, Schulz said he hoped to win a vote of confidence with the backing of “a large majority” of party faithful.

His decision to leave the European Parliament and be a candidate to lead Germany has given the Social Democrats a new lease of life since party leader Sigmar Gabriel asked him to take the reins in January.

“It’s been encouraging to see in the last few weeks that people are hopeful again that the Social Democrats have a shot,” Schulz told Berlin public radio RBB this week. “My intention to pursue policies that make the lives of hardworking people a little better is apparently finding a lot of support.”

Opinion surveys have recorded a 10- point jump for the SPD in recent weeks and some polls put it ahead of the conservative bloc of Merkel, who is trying to win a fourth term.

Ahead of the congress, Schulz won a nod of support from EU Commission chief Jean- Claude Juncker who, despite his centre- right stance, has had a somewhat tense relationship with Merkel.

“Both Martin Schulz and Angela Merkel have the qualities to be chancellor,” he told Bild newspaper on Sunday.

The Social Democrats, junior partners in Merkel governments for nearly eight of the last 12 years, long withered in Merkel’s shadow.

But Gabriel, now Germany’s foreign minister, told supporters this month that Schulz’s entry into the race as a Berlin outsider appealed to many SPD voters who are tired of the “grand coalition.” “He embodies the feeling of Social Democracy, in his head and above all in his heart,” Gabriel said.