Germany’s Social Democrats meet to choose new leadership

Berlin (dpa) – The main party in Germany’s new coalition government, the Social Democrats (SPD), began a conference in Berlin on Saturday to reorganize its party leadership.

A few days after the election of the SPD’s Olaf Scholz as the country’s new chancellor, the whole of the party’s leadership is up for election.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the approximately 600 delegates came together largely online.

The current party leader, Saskia Esken, and current Secretary General Lars Klingbeil are aiming to become co-chairs. Klingbeil is running to succeed outgoing co-chair Norbert Walter-Borjans.

The federal executive committee has also proposed the former leader of the youth wing of the party and SPD deputy leader Kevin Kuehnert as the new general secretary.

The chair of the party’s branch in the state of North Rhine Westphalia, Thomas Kutschaty, is to take over the vacant deputy post.

Kutschaty said ahead of the conference the SPD must make it clear that it stands for more than agreed in the coalition agreement with the Greens and the pro-business Free Democrats (FDP).

The party is still in the middle of a modernization process, he said. “This must not stop now,” Kutschaty told Deutschlandfunk radio on Saturday morning.

He said the SPD had achieved a lot in the coalition agreement, but stood for “a bit more,” for example a better and fairer tax system, he said.

He wants to contribute to the party’s further development and be the face of the party in addition to its representation in government and the parliamentary group in the Bundestag.

At the same time, Kutschaty referred to the central role of Chancellor Olaf Scholz – also a member of the SPD – for social democracy.

“The chancellor is very distinctive and decisive,” Kutschaty said.

In addition to filling the top jobs, the new chancellor’s party will also have to decide on content. After the election success, the party leadership had set the goal of ushering in a “social democratic decade.”

Outgoing leader Walter-Borjans called on his successors to take a self-confident course in relation to the coalition with the Greens and FDP.

“The task of not letting the SPD become the mouthpiece of the coalition, but to continue to profile it as a source of impetus for the coalition continues unabated,” Walter-Borjans told Saturday’s edition of the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper.

Kuehnert for his part said the party would continue to pursue goals that did not make it into the coalition agreement.

These include, for example, the introduction of a citizens’ insurance or financial redistribution through higher taxes for the wealthy.

“A pension system for all forms of employment. Citizen insurance in the health sector. An adequate taxation of huge assets. This is not folklore for election campaigns,” Kuehnert told the weekend edition of the newspaper taz.

Asked whether he would get on Chancellor Scholz’s nerves, the 32-year-old said: “You’re misjudging Olaf Scholz. I would be surprised if the contents of our party programme get on the nerves of members of my party.”