With his resignation as General Secretary, Kevin Kühnert surprised not only the SPD but also the German media. Nevertheless, most people respect him for the decision.
A good year before the federal election, he can no longer do it: Kevin Kühnert is resigning as general secretary of the SPD for health reasons. The 35-year-old said in a letter to party members and the public that he would not run for the Bundestag again. This means that the SPD is losing its election campaign manager in a strategically important phase – and for the time being one of its greatest political talents.
Kevin Kühnert and his resignation
Badische Zeitung (Freiburg)
“Kühnert, who could argue cleverly but also deal hard, had to take more and more punishment himself, often unfairly, most recently from within his own ranks beyond all decency. This kind of encirclement wears you down. Added to this was the prospect of an election campaign with a chancellor’s party in crisis. Building up That probably didn’t work either. Kühnert himself wrote in a letter that he currently lacks the energy for it. “We hope that he will find it again soon, both as a person and as a political leader.”
Frankfurter Rundschau
“The fact that Kevin Kühnert is resigning as SPD general secretary is a huge surprise. This is all the more true since the 35-year-old is also not running for the Bundestag again. This is the end of the career of a highly committed and highly talented person. This is a bitter one Loss for the SPD and an indirect symptom of its crisis. Certainly, Kühnert was not without controversy, no politician is. This applies to his time as head of the Young Socialists as well as to his time as general secretary. The resignation is also personally tragic. Someone like that doesn’t go if he doesn’t have to – not at that age and with the prospects. We don’t know anything about the health reasons “It is rightly a private matter. In fact, it has happened more often recently that politicians could no longer do what they wanted.”
Lausitzer Rundschau (Cottbus)
“Kühnert hit the right note with this open admission, in two ways. On the one hand, he says that no task, no job can be as important as one’s own health, and he says all of this in clear and well-chosen words. That’s why “It shows how great the loss is that the SPD has to bear with Kühnert’s departure and what enormous political talent the 35-year-old is. He will be difficult to replace.”
European elections
This is how the parties react to the results
New Osnabrücker Zeitung
“It has been known for a long time that top politics can make you sick, that it demands almost superhuman things from those who want to pursue it. The list of prominent personalities who express their suffering due to the sometimes monstrous conditions extends from Peter Tauber to Michael Roth to Sahra Wagenknecht The demands of the company have already become an issue. If you want to do this job completely, it threatens to eat you up. And with Kevin Kühnert, a personality is leaving the political stage that made him more whole than many others “His political career remains unfinished, and that is not only regrettable for him personally. It is – as many of his political opponents will also recognize – a loss for the entire Federal Republic.”
Nuremberg News
“It speaks for his consistent stance that he is not only resigning from the office of Secretary General, but also does not want to run for the Bundestag again. This makes the health reasons doubly credible. We can only wish him a speedy recovery.”
Reutlinger General-Anzeiger
“A big bang in Berlin: Kevin Kühnert resigns as general secretary of the SPD. The 35-year-old justified this step with health problems. It’s not just the Kühnert case that shows: the pressure at the top of politics is enormous. Former Defense Minister Karl-Theodor also agrees Guttenberg and the SPD politician Michael Roth only recently made it public that politics had taken a toll on them mentally. In addition to the frequent 16-hour days, the constant presence in public and the recurring criticism of themselves also contributed “Perhaps we should remind ourselves more often that politicians are only human and that their proverbial thick skin is not always made of Teflon.”
Straubinger Tagblatt/Landshuter Zeitung
“The federal election campaign will be a show of strength that will require everyone’s full power. If Kühnert finds himself unable to perform at full capacity due to his health, his resignation is logical. The successor should be someone who finds a connection with the people. And not only in the cities. Someone who knows their concerns and sensitivities and, above all, someone who has seen a company from the inside.
Stuttgart News
“Kevin Kühnert was until the end at the head of those brave, half-hearted comrades who continued to throw themselves into the breach for Scholz as the top candidate. His resignation may not fuel the raging debate, but he will not calm it down either. That’s why the party leadership must quickly find an optimistic-sounding one Submit a successor proposal. “We are prepared,” says co-leader Saskia Esken. “It’s not just the Greens and Liberals who should look closely.”
Stuttgart newspaper
“The traffic light parties had probably imagined the ‘Autumn of Decisions’ differently. Not to mention the audience. First, the Greens are forced to reshuffle their party leadership. Now the SPD needs a new general secretary. With Kevin Kühnert’s health-related retirement comes The comrades have lost an exceptional political talent, who of course has not always acted skillfully in the past. However, the malaise of the Chancellor’s party has other reasons. Even if a new campaign manager is found quickly, that alone will not solve the problem “Olaf Scholz really is the right candidate for chancellor for next year’s election? The distrust and resentment of his government has never been greater than now.”
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Volksstimme (Magdeburg)
“Kevin Kühnert is undoubtedly one of the more talented members of the SPD leadership team. Intelligent and confident in arguments, the 35-year-old knows how to lead and direct a debate. However, this only applies within a certain circle. Kühnert was once a popular, very left-wing young socialist – Boss – a role that he has never credibly outgrown. Kühnert once fought against the GroKo with the same vehemence as he does today with vehemence against the AfD, although he still treats the right-wing populists in the same way as his chancellor – as if they were a wise SPD. Politics disappearing again on its own. Constantly adapting one’s own standards to distorted social democratic politics meant a constant balancing act that the SPD general secretary no longer felt able to cope with after almost three years in office. The erosion of the traffic light is progressing – from the government parties First the Green Party leaders, now the SPD general.
The world
“Politics must not just be the business of tough dogs and tough beasts. Resilience is important, but society has to decide for itself how it deals with its politicians if it wants the best and brightest minds of its generation to also be interested in it The big parties are already having a hard time luring people from good jobs to use their expertise from science, business or culture to enter the so-called snake pit of politics. This is not a good development.
Get well soon, dear Kevin Kühnert.”
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
