BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose conservatives have fallen behind in polls for an election to replace her later this month, took aim on Tuesday at the Social Democratic candidate for declining to rule out a coalition with the far left.
After 16 years in power, Merkel's conservatives are facing defeat, with a poll this week showing the centre-left SPD with a five point lead. A separate snap poll showed the SPD candidate for chancellor, Olaf Scholz, beat other candidates in a televised debate on Sunday.
Polls suggest Scholz could have several possible paths to form a coalition. However, when pressed during Sunday's debate, Scholz did not categorically rule out forming a coalition with the far-left Linke party. Conservatives say this would mean a big lurch away from Germany's centrist mainstream.
"With me as chancellor there would never be a coalition in which the Linke is involved, and whether this (stance) is shared by Olaf Scholz or not remains open," Merkel told a joint news conference with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
"In this context, there is simply a huge difference for the future of Germany between me and him," she added of Scholz.
Merkel, in power since 2005, plans to stand down after the election. Her conservatives' candidate for chancellor, Armin Laschet, has failed to capture voters' imagination.
Meanwhile, dpa reports that with four weeks to go until the German elections, outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel has made a rare attack on the centre-left candidate to be her successor, Olaf Scholz.
Merkel added her voice to what has become a common line of argument against Scholz, who is also her current finance minister: that he is not ruling out a possible coalition with the hard-left Die Linke (The Left) party after the elections.
Die Linke are polling at around 6 or 7 per cent, and they could help form a majority as part of a left-wing coalition.
Merkel's centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU) have rejected the idea of a coalition with Die Linke on the grounds that the party has incompatible foreign policy aims. Die Linke sees the Nato military alliance - of which Germany is a member - as a relic of the Cold War and describes it as a "war alliance."
The CDU's candidate for chancellor, Armin Laschet, emphasised in Sunday's televised debate that he would not work with Die Linke: "I. Won't. Do. It. Full stop," he said.
On Tuesday Merkel also weighed in, saying: "With me as chancellor there would never be a coalition in which Die Linke plays a part. And it's not clear whether Olaf Scholz is able to say the same thing...This is a huge difference between me and him (Scholz) when it comes to Germany's future."
The unflappable SPD candidate's solid campaign has seen his poll numbers rise above Laschet's in the past week, putting huge pressure on the centre-right as they fear losing the chancellorship after Merkel's decade and a half in power. - AFP/dpa
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