Germany’s Vice-Chancellor and leader of the Social Democrats (SPD) Sigmar Gabriel has made light of rumours he was stepping down, saying yesterday that reports of his departure were exaggerated.
Helmut Markwort, co-publisher of magazine Focus, sparked a flurry of media speculation when he told a German television programme that he had heard from reliable sources that Gabriel planned to hand in his resignation this week.
Gabriel, 56, who cancelled a trip to Iran last week after reportedly suffering from shingles, dismissed the claim as rubbish.
“I was a little surprised that as a politician in Germany you may no longer be ill without someone spewing nonsense,” he told broadcaster RTL in Stockholm, where he had been holding talks with the leaders of Sweden and Austria.
He recalled how US author Mark Twain had published an announcement saying reports of his death had been greatly exaggerated.
“It’s a similar thing with me,” said Gabriel, who has been leader of the SPD since 2009.
Earlier, senior SPD members rejected the rumour as nonsense.
“Mr Markwort has presumably had too much sun in Munich,” SPD deputy chairman Ralf Stegner told Reuters.
Justice Minister Heiko Maas also dismissed the rumour.
“I think it’s such a load of hogwash that you can’t even properly deny it,” the minister told broadcaster ARD.
Gabriel has struggled to impose his leadership credentials before next year’s federal election.
Many in his party openly doubt that he should stand as their candidate for chancellor.
He scored just 74% in a party delegates’ vote of confidence last December – the lowest for an SPD leader in 20 years.
His party has struggled to capitalise on infighting among Merkel’s conservatives over Europe’s migrant crisis and had a poor showing in regional elections in March as voters punished Germany’s ruling parties in favour of the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
A poll for Bild am Sonntag put support for the SPD at 22%, even worse than the party’s showing in the 2009 election when its vote slumped to a post-war low of 23%.
As deputy chancellor in Merkel’s grand coalition, he has to show that he is fit to lead the nation while also working out policies that his party can agree to implement in tandem with the conservatives.
The former teacher, who is also economy minister, was forced to cancel a trip to Iran last week due to illness.
This was a blow for German companies that had seen the event as a potential catalyst for increasing exports to Iran.
Still, most pundits are betting on him still running in 2017 given the lack of clear rivals and apparent reluctance among top SPD officials to take on what is viewed as an unenviable position.
“Of course Gabriel is the one who will run as candidate for chancellor,” Maas told ARD.
Gabriel, a powerful speaker, has become more outspoken in recent weeks.
On Saturday, he urged eurozone finance ministers to start talks about debt relief for Greece, a policy that Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble opposes.
He has called on the government to invest more, rather than relying on the European Central Bank to promote growth, whereas Schaeuble has doggedly stuck to his goal of a balanced budget.