Pressure grows on Germany's Scholz over bid for second term

FILE PHOTO: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz walks to meet with Romanian President Klaus Iohannis at the Chancellery for bilateral talks, in Berlin, Germany, November 15, 2024. REUTERS/Annegret Hilse /File Photo

BERLIN (Reuters) - Pressure is piling on Germany's unpopular Chancellor Olaf Scholz to let someone else lead his Social Democrats into the upcoming snap election to give the party now languishing in third place in polls a better shot of catching up.

The SPD leadership has so far stood firmly behind Scholz's bid to run for a second term as chancellor in the national election, which was brought forward to February 2025 after his fractious three-way coalition collapsed on Nov. 6.