German Social Democrat (SPD) <a gi-track='captionPersonalityLinkClicked' href=/galleries/search?phrase=Peer+Steinbrueck&family=editorial&specificpeople=209110 ng-click='$event.stopPropagation()'>Peer Steinbrueck</a> smiles as he gives a statement to the press on September 28, 2012 in Berlin, Germany. The SPD confirmed <a gi-track='captionPersonalityLinkClicked' href=/galleries/search?phrase=Peer+Steinbrueck&family=editorial&specificpeople=209110 ng-click='$event.stopPropagation()'>Peer Steinbrueck</a> as its candidate for chancellor to run against Angela Merkel in 2013 general elections. Steinbrueck, formerly a member of Merkel's cabinet as finance minister, was widely respected for his dealing with the financial crisis in 2008 after the bankruptcy of Lehmann Brothers.