HANNOVER, Oct. 9 (DPA/EP) –
The President of Germany, Olaf Scholz visited the state of Lower Saxony this Saturday, in the northwest of the country, one day before the regional elections in which the Social Democratic Party (SPD) hopes to prevail against its conservative rivals.
The Social Democrats have been confident in the campaign event that has featured prominent party members such as the current state prime minister, Stephan Weil, and the Prime Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate, Malu Dreyer, who have appeared alongside Scholz.
All of them have addressed energy costs and skyrocketing inflation during their speeches in front of several hundred people.
The energy crisis and high inflation have been the dominant themes during the electoral campaign. State policies, such as the lack of teachers and the restructuring of agriculture, constitute the main local problems, but they have remained in the background.
Weil has stated that he is optimistic about his party’s victory. Polls show that Weil has a lead of several percentage points ahead of the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) candidate, Bernd Althusmann.
The CDU and the SPD have been in coalition in the state of Lower Saxony for the last four years. Instead, after these elections Weil seeks an alliance with the greens.
The two parties, along with the liberals of the Free Democrats (FDP) currently govern the country at the federal level.
However, Althusmann has insisted that the polls are not necessarily indicative of citizens’ voting intentions and that many voters have not yet decided which list they will support.
Weil has accused Althusmann of not running a state election campaign and opposing the ruling coalition instead, “what a weak image,” he said.
Weil has led the state government since 2013 and maintains wide popularity.
However, Weil took a hit a few days ago when he chaired an energy summit with federal and state leaders that failed to produce any concrete results, prompting his rivals to reiterate their criticism of the federal government for the lack of a clear plan to address the energy costs.
The national leader of the CDU, Friedrich Merz, and the leader of the FDP, Christian Linder, also participated in the state campaign this Friday.
With about eight million inhabitants, Lower Saxony is one of the four most populous federal states in Germany. About 6.1 million voters are called to the polls to appoint the state parliament this Sunday.
