German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been nominated as his ruling party's lead candidate for the snap election in late February next year.

Executives of the center-left Social Democratic party, or SPD, named Scholz as its chancellor candidate in a meeting on Monday.

The snap election was called after Scholz's ruling coalition collapsed in early November, due mainly to differences within the coalition over fiscal policy.

Scholz's sluggish approval ratings prompted some SPD members to rally behind popular defense minister Boris Pistorius. But Pistorius pulled out of the race.

An SDP official later told reporters that party executives convincingly voted for Scholz, since he steered the country through difficult crises.

A poll by German public broadcaster ZDF found the opposition alliance of the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union is leading at 32 percent, versus the SDP's 16 percent.