By Riham Alkousaa and Holger Hansen
BERLIN (Reuters) -German Economy Minister Robert Habeck will announce his intention on Friday to run for the post of chancellor on behalf of the Greens, a source familiar with the matter said, days after the collapse of the country's three-way coalition.
The break-up of Germany's coalition following months of infighting over budget and fiscal policy has paved the way for an early election, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz, a Social Democrat, aiming for a vote in March.
However, Habeck's expected bid for the chancellorship - whenever the election comes - is a long shot, as his Greens party is trailing in the opinion polls.
Habeck, 55, a former novelist and philosopher, has been a central figure in Germany's energy and climate policy as economy and climate protection minister.
In the early days of Scholz's government, which took office in 2021, he was Germany's most popular politician, winning plaudits for his clear communication and approachable style, which contrasted starkly with the tight-lipped chancellor.
With eloquent speeches and candid interviews, Habeck became the face of Germany's effort to navigate the energy crisis following Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the end of cheap gas deliveries, making hundreds of media appearances to explain the situation and propose solutions.
"He is a politician who can get his point across very authentically and very credibly," said Stefan Marschall, political scientist at the University of Duesseldorf.
Habeck also drew praise for his pragmatism in securing energy deals in Doha and Abu Dhabi.
"The rapid and effective intervention in the energy crisis was able to prevent a gas shortage and a deep recession in the winter of 2022/23," the president of the DIW economic institute, Marcel Fratzscher, told Reuters.
COST OF LIVING CRISIS
His reputation was tarnished, however, after he was forced to overhaul an unwieldy law to ban new oil and gas heating systems and ditch an ill-fated gas levy that critics said would hurt consumers while benefiting energy companies.
A cost-of-living crisis and an economic downturn have shifted many Germans' focus away from climate protection, weakening the appeal of the Greens. Habeck's approval ratings have dropped to just 26% from a peak of nearly 70% in mid-2022.
"He's not just the climate minister, he's also the economy minister, and the economic policy problems in Germany are now being blamed on him," Marschall added.
His party is now polling on 11%, down from 14.8% in the 2021 election, meaning it is unlikely to be in a position to actually run the next government. The opposition conservatives are currently polling first on around 32%.
Habeck returned to social media platform X on Thursday after a five-year break and posted a short video in which he was seen wearing a bracelet on which the words "Chancellor Era" are written.
"It's easy to leave places like this to the noisy troublemakers and populists," he said. "But taking the easy way out cannot be the solution... That's why I'm back on X."
Habeck's announcement comes 10 days before the Greens hold their 2024 party congress, where they are expected to confirm his candidacy.
The Greens made their first ever bid for the chancellery in 2021, with now Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock running as the candidate. Back then though, they were only trailing the conservatives by some 5 percentage points.