Angela Merkel's path to a fourth term as Germany's chancellor just got more complicated.
The surprise decision by Social Democratic leader Sigmar Gabriel to surrender the SPD's candidacy to a more popular figure, former European Parliament President Martin Schulz, reinvigorates the fortunes of a party that has become the perennial also-ran to Merkel's Christian Democrats during her tenure.
"Schulz is someone who will compete with a more aggressive stance during the election campaign," said Henrik Enderlein, professor of political economy at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin, in an interview Tuesday. "This of course makes the situation for Merkel more difficult, but also more interesting."