Berlin, Feb. 24, (dpa/GNA) – Following a historic election defeat for his centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday that he plans to carry out his work as head of government “properly to the end.”

Scholz had already said he will play no role in the next government, and that he will not be involved in coalition negotiations between his SPD and the centre-right bloc made up of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Christian Social Union (CSU), which won the election.

He is expected to remain chancellor in a caretaker capacity until the next government has been formed, something that could take weeks or months.

But Scholz said he will remain a backbench member of the Bundestag, the lower house of Germany’s parliament, after narrowly winning the mandate in his constituency in Potsdam, located just west of Berlin.

In doing so, Scholz follows the example of conservative former chancellor Helmut Kohl, who also remained in the Bundestag after being voted out of office in 1998.

SPD former chancellor Gerhard Schröder, on the other hand, resigned his seat in the Bundestag shortly before handing over office to his successor Angela Merkel in 2005. Merkel, who retired in 2021, did not stand for election.

Scholz called it a great honour to serve as the ninth chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, and the fourth Social Democrat to hold that office in Germany’s post-war history.

He acknowledged the bitter result for the SPD, the worst-ever showing for the party in a national parliamentary election, and took responsibility as the leader of the campaign.

Scholz stressed that the SPD is still urgently needed as a fighter for democracy and justice, as well as a voice for those who depend on justice and good social coexistence.

GNA