Who is Olaf Scholz, the new chancellor who succeeds Angela Merkel?

A bouquet of flowers, offered Wednesday, December 8 to Angela Merkel: the image symbolizes the transfer of power between the former chancellor and her successor, Olaf Scholz. “I look forward to working here. It will be a new start for our country, I want to do everything for it“, soberly announced the latter during his inauguration. At 63, his accession to power crowns a journey started at the age of 17 in the Social Democratic Party. He was for four years the Minister of Finance.

Not often acclaimed, he now succeeds in the feat of forming a government made up of the left, environmentalists and liberals, “three equal partners who join forces for the good of the country“, in his words. Among the tracks envisaged by their common program: the increase of the minimum wage to 12 euros per hour, the legalization of cannabis or the right to vote at 16. No question, however, of releasing the pressure on the German budget: the return to “zero deficit” is expected within two years.