AFP, BERLINThe future of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition was thrown into question on Saturday as her deputy chancellor and finance minister lost the leadership race of his center-left Social Democratic Party (SPD). The humiliating defeat for German Minister of Finance Olaf Scholz marks another sign of discontent within the Social Democrats over their partnership with Merkel’s center-right party. Wounded by an election rout in 2017, the SPD had initially sought to go into opposition, but allowed itself reluctantly to be coaxed into renewing an alliance with Merkel. The SPD has also been battered by a series of regional and European election setbacks this year. “The SPD cannot renew itself unless it is in opposition and has new people,” political expert Klaus Schroeder said.
