Olaf Scholz: The Social Democrat Channelling Merkel In Succession Bid

Olaf Scholz, the centre-left Social Democrat (SPD) candidate to succeed Angela Merkel, is one of Germany's most influential politicians, with a reputation for being meticulous, confident and fiercely ambitious. As finance minister and vice-chancellor under Merkel, he enjoys a close relationship with the chancellor and has even sought to position himself as the true Merkel continuity candidate, despite hailing from a different party. He was pictured recently on the cover of the Sueddeutsche Zeitung magazine adopting Merkel's famous "rhombus" hand gesture -- a stunt that provoked consternation from rivals in Merkel's CDU camp. Nicknamed "Scholzomat" for his robotic speeches, Scholz has hardly stood out for his charisma in the run-up to Sunday's election. But unlike his two main rivals, Armin Laschet of Merkel's CDU-CSU alliance and Annalena Baerbock of the Greens, the 63-year-old has also managed not to make embarrassing mistakes on the campaign trail. As a result, he is now the favourite to head Germany's next coalition government.