German Chancellor Olaf Scholz waves to delegates after giving a speech during the party congress of his social democratic SPD party in Berlin on Dec. 9, 2023. AFP-Yonhap

The executive committee of Germany's centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) nominated Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday as the party's top candidate in upcoming early elections, following a tough and controversial internal debate.

Participants at the meeting of the SPD's 33-member leadership committee in Berlin told dpa of the decision. The SPD's rank-and-file members are due to confirm Scholz's candidacy at a national party conference on Jan. 11.

Over the past two weeks, SPD politicians and party functionaries have waged an intense public debate over the political future of the chancellor, who has overseen a squabbling coalition government and suffered from poor approval ratings in polls.

Some figures in the SPD had pushed for Scholz to be replaced for the upcoming election campaign with Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, who is widely viewed as the most popular minister in government.

Last Thursday, Pistorius renounced a candidacy and pledged his support for Scholz, which cleared the way for Scholz's nomination.

Early elections are expected to be held in February following the collapse of Scholz's three-party coalition, which broke apart amid bitter debates over how to close major shortfalls in the 2025 government budget.

Polls suggest the SPD may be headed for a historically poor result in the nationwide election, with recent surveys placing support for the party at between 14% and 16%.

That would be a major slide from the 25.7 percent the Social Democrats earned in 2021, and a bitter disappointment for a party that has been a major player in German politics for more than a century.

The centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU), and their Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) sister party, have a clear lead in the polls with between 32 percent and 37 percent.

That has made opposition leader Friedrich Merz the favourite to replace Scholz as chancellor in the next government. (dpa)