DW — The current head of Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD), Martin Schulz, said on Friday that he would no longer pursue a ministerial post in the next German government, including the job of foreign minister. Schulz had come under heavy criticism in his own party for claiming the foreign minister role for himself after leaders of Germany’s largest parties agreed to form another coalition government led by Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Schulz, the former president of the European Parliament, said he believed the internal squabble within his party risked jeopardizing a pending coalition deal with Merkel’s conservatives. The SPD reached a deal with Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), on Wednesday.
The coalition deal still requires the approval of SPD party members, who will vote on the deal in the coming weeks and can still reject it.
Former Labour Minister Andrea Nahles is reportedly set to take over from Schulz after the SPD member vote and would become the first woman to head Germany’s Social Democrats.
