SPD: Party leader with Anklet

The SPD party congress made a rational decision for first talks with the union. But Martin Schulz cannot reach the heart of the comrades.

SPD: Party leader with Anklet
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  • Page 1 — Party leader with Anklet
  • Page 2 — Schulz's European supplement does not interest anyone
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    If one of SPD speaks straight from bottom of my heart, it is Kevin Kühnert. The new Juso boss is strictly against a new grand coalition. Because he believes that SPD can only be based on it. "I did not enter SPD to run against same wall again and again," 28-year-old calls on delegates at party congress in Berlin. He means, of course, poor election results for Social Democrats according to ir previous alliances with Union: "The renewal of SPD will be outside grand coalition. Or she won't be at all, "prophesies Kühnert.

    For this energetic performance, young socialist gets much more euphoric cheers as party leader Martin Schulz in his speech. And anyway, probably loudest encouragement that day.

    One thing becomes clear in five-hour, sometimes agonizingly repetitive debate in Dark Conference hall on fairgrounds of capital: The SPD is a split party. And she is deeply suspicious of her own leadership. Even if Martin Schulz promises in his speech that, after failure of Jamaica negotiations, only "open-ended" talks with union are to be conducted, re is no automatism for a grand coalition.

    No more bucks on Merkel

    The arguments of opponents of a new alliance with Union have long been aimed at bad gut feeling of comrades: no one wants a coalition of election losers, it only strengns AfD.

    Major changes, social democratic concerns, block union, so anor argument of opponents. "I have no more bucks for Angela Merkel," says former Juso chair Johanna Uekermann in debate: "Nothing has changed."

    Already in front of exhibition hall, in which SPD meets, comrades on Thursday morning try to convince delegates of alliances with Union parties that are toxic to SPD – with Megafons and leaflets. At party congress, Kühnerts Jusos even put forward an application that would forbid SPD party leadership to talk to Angela Merkel and Horst Seehofer at all about a grand coalition.

    As far as dissatisfied comrades do not want to go. The application will be cancelled in evening. The basis does not follow your heart but your sense of responsibility.

    The SPD leader gives everything

    However, party leadership has been doing all afternoon to keep party's shaky mood at bay. Martin Schulz quotes SPD's Godesberg Program of principles: "The interest of whole must be above individual interest." Lower Saxony's Prime Minister Stephan Weil recalls comrade Willy Brandt: The 1969 has trumped a beet union in grand Coalition – and n became chancellor. Group chairman Andrea Nahles tries it with victory certainty towards union: "The SPD is needed. And it's going to be pretty expensive. Bätschi, I'm just saying. "

    Representatives of trade unions also promote talks with union: "It is understandable that SPD does not want to move into GroKo with waving flags," said Reiner Hoffmann, head of German Trade Union Confederation. A Jamaica alliance would have been bad for interests of workers and socially vulnerable. And party left Ralf Steger says he finds grand coalition "as attractive as athlete's foot" – but SPD wants to "make people's lives better" in sense of Brandt. Moreover, talks with union could still fail in end.

    Date Of Update: 08 December 2017, 12:02
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