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By Sarah Marsh and Matthias Williams
BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany's ruling Social Democrats officially made Chancellor Olaf Scholz their lead candidate on Monday for February's election, billing him as a safe pair of hands compared with the opposition conservatives contender who has no government experience.
Popular Defence Minister Boris Pistorius ruled himself out of the running last Thursday, putting an end to weeks of speculation over whether he should lead the SPD into the election instead of Scholz.
The party executive committee of the centre-left SPD unanimously voted for Scholz as chancellor candidate, allowing him to run for a second term despite overseeing the collapse of his three-way coalition earlier this month.
In his coronation speech, Scholz spelled out the key points for his election campaign: ensuring peace by cautiously supporting Ukraine against Russia's full-scale invasion, reviving the ailing economy and taming the cost of living crisis.
Scholz, the least popular chancellor in Germany since reunification in 1990, has an uphill battle ahead of him if he wants to win the election, which is expected to take place on Feb. 23.
His SPD is currently polling in third place. A survey by pollster INSA published on Saturday put the party on 14% behind the opposition conservatives on 32% and far-right Alternative for Germany on 19%.
FRACTIOUS COALITION
Scholz is also less popular than the conservatives' chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz, although by a much smaller margin, with a poll by Wahlen putting him on 39% versus Merz on 44%.
Support for the chancellor and his party slumped in recent years amid infighting within the fractious three-way coalition, which collapsed earlier this month due to differences over how to revive the economy.
Critics say Scholz lacks leadership and communication skills. His aides say his experience and composure will come into play more in the election campaign, especially given Merz's lack of any government experience and irrascibility.
Scholz has led Germany through "serious crises, shown nerves of steel, prudence and steadfastness, especially when it comes to major international issues", SPD co-leader Lars Klingbeil told reporters.
"And on the other side is Friedrich Merz, who has never been a mayor ... who has never been part of a state government, part of a federal government, who has never taken responsibility for this country," he said.
"It would be a very big experiment to elect someone like that to the head of the country, especially in these times."
The current constellation seen as most likely after next February's election is a grand coalition of Germany's two big-tent parties, the CDU and SPD, led by Merz.
(Reporting by Sarah Marsh, Matthias Williams and Andreas Rinke; Editing by Alex Richardson)
