The carillon at Munich City Hall is dragging on, at least longer than those who are responsible for the show, which is about to start on Marienplatz, expected. Apparently no one had told the directors that the famous carillon always consists of four small pieces, because when it goes quiet after the third, they play a video message on the giant screens around the stage. But then the chimes continue and the video fades out again.
When it finally comes to rest, the video first flickers in its entirety over the LED walls and then the time has come: Olaf Scholz appears. Dark trousers, white shirt, buttoned up almost to the top – “the future Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany”, as Lars Klingbeil, the general secretary of the SPD, introduces him. On Saturday lunchtime, he will moderate the campaign appearance of Scholz, who is currently still traveling through the Federal Republic as Chancellor candidate of the SPD. There are still eight days until the federal election, the decisive phase is about to begin, Scholz is on tour hard, especially through Bavaria, “today alone in three days”, as Klingbeil promises.
“Markus Söder is also fighting for Olaf Scholz to become Chancellor”
The general secretary of the SPD is responsible for the lively moments on this Saturday afternoon. After the Berlin band Lounge Society warmed up the audience with hits from the eighties, it continued to heat it up on the well-filled Marienplatz, where the corona distance rule can hardly be observed. Klingbeil puts the tips against the political opponent. “The biggest problem with digitization is Andi Scheuer,” he teased the CSU politician, who as Federal Transport Minister is also responsible for the digital infrastructure. And he generally mocks the election campaign of the Union parties: “Markus Söder is also fighting for Olaf Scholz to become chancellor.”
Olaf Scholz himself fights rather cautiously, not exactly drowsy, but also not really enthusiastic. The 63-year-old comes across as a little brittle, but that’s the way the native Osnabrück and former mayor of Hamburg is: Nordic by nature.
On Wednesday Robert Habeck appeared in the same place, the co-chair of the Greens is a captivating storyteller, he entertains his audience. Scholz is not an entertainer, more of a speaker. But the circumstances of the two appearances were symbolic: While it was raining on Wednesday and the Greens had been getting wet for weeks anyway, the SPD was lit by the sun on Saturday. Thanks in particular to Olaf Scholz, the Social Democrats have been in the polls for weeks. Now it’s important not to gamble away the lead, says Secretary General Klingbeil: “If you lead 2-0 in the 85th minute, you won’t leave the field and cheer.”
So Olaf Scholz acts very solidly, very seriously, very controlled on the Munich stage. He quickly came to the subject of affordable housing, “actually the social question in this city”, as Munich’s Mayor Dieter Reiter will later affirm. Scholz wants to build 400,000 new apartments a year if he is elected, including 100,000 social housing. It guarantees the elderly a stable pension level and no increase in the retirement age. He promises workers to raise the minimum wage to twelve euros in the first year of his chancellorship. “Ten million people will then earn more,” he calculates. And he promises the younger generation acceleration in climate policy. By 2045, the country should be climate-neutral, “we have to accelerate so that it actually works”.
Olaf Scholz talks a lot about setting out and tackling, about challenges and solutions, about this and that. All well and good, but everything has already been heard in this election campaign, it is nothing new that Scholz is telling people. But in the last five minutes of a soccer game you don’t suddenly start doing tricks if you’re 2-0 up; there you see that you get the game and the lead over time.
In any case, the audience clapped politely and long enough applause. Olaf Scholz waved back with his right hand and casually put the left in his pocket. After the rally, the SPD supporters lined up in a long line for a selfie with Olaf Scholz. It could be that they actually get a picture with the future Chancellor.