German chancellor candidate Scholz quizzed

Frankfurt: German lawmakers on Monday grilled Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, the frontrunner to succeed Angela Merkel in national elections this weekend, over a high-stakes money-laundering probe that could shake up the race.

Local media speculated that the scandal had unsettled allies in his centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD), with less than a week to go before the September 26 vote. The candidate unexpectedly turned up in person to the closed-door hearing in Berlin before the parliament’s finance committee, after he was initially expected to take part by video link.