German Economy Minister Robert Habeck has confirmed his intention to lead the Greens as their candidate for chancellor in the next election, DPA reported, BTA reported.
"I will run for chancellor as the Greens' candidate for chancellor in the name of the people of Germany," Habeck said in a video message posted on social media.
The Greens will officially nominate their candidate for the top job at the party's national conference, which begins next Friday in Wiesbaden. To be nominated, Habeck will need to secure the support of party members.
The date of the next election remains unclear. Regular parliamentary elections were due to take place in September, but the collapse of the ruling coalition of the Greens, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the liberals of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) has left the Federal Republic under the shadow of early elections.
After dismissing FDP leader Christian Lindner from his post as finance minister on Wednesday, effectively ending the liberals' participation in the coalition, Scholz announced that he would seek a vote of confidence from the lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, on January 15.
If MPs do not vote in favor of the chancellor, early elections will follow, most likely in March. But conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz has called on Scholz to seek a vote of confidence as early as next week, meaning that if this happens, parliamentary elections could be held as early as the second half of January.
Habeck, who is also vice chancellor, said today: "I am ready to offer my experience, skills and responsibility as chancellor if you want. But the decision is not mine, it is yours". The minister hinted yesterday at his intention to enter the chancellor race. Many expect him to lead the party in the elections, as his most serious competitor, Foreign Minister Analene Berbock, who was the Greens' candidate for chancellor in the 2021 elections, has announced that she will not run for office in the next elections.