SPD candidacy for chancellor: Angry Jusos and a remorseful party leader

After the quarrels over the candidacy for chancellor, the SPD leadership is trying to pick up the pieces as quickly as possible. At the weekend at the Federal Congress of the Young Socialists (Jusos) in Halle, SPD leader Saskia Esken faced the massive criticism from the youth association and appeared remorseful: “No, we didn’t give a really good picture when we nominated our candidate for chancellor.”

Juso boss Philipp Türmer had previously accused Esken and her co-chairman Lars Klingbeil of leadership failure and spoke of a “shit show”. “I have to say, at this point I really lacked a plan and actually lacked leadership on this issue from the party leadership.”

Klingbeil defends the approach again

However, SPD leader Lars Klingbeil once again defended the party leadership’s actions. “My claim to leadership is that you listen to the party, that you hold debates, that you think in different scenarios,” he said on Deutschlandfunk.

However, Klingbeil also admitted that he would have imagined the discussion to be different and called for people to now look forward. “Now everyone has a collective responsibility to flip the switch and ensure that we start the election campaign.”

After the traffic light coalition collapsed and the new election decision was made, the party leadership decided not to immediately nominate Prime Minister Olaf Scholz as candidate for chancellor. This has led to a debate over the past two weeks about replacing Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who is, according to surveys, much more popular. It was only ended on Thursday when Pistorius renounced his candidacy.

Criticism of Scholz also comes from the party leadership

On Monday, the board wants to officially nominate Scholz as a candidate for chancellor. He is to be confirmed at a party conference on January 11th. It remains to be seen whether the party will rally behind him.

Juso boss Türmer said in Halle that the candidate debate was now over for him. However, a clear commitment to Scholz was not heard from him. Instead, the party leadership itself criticized the Chancellor’s course on migration policy at the congress. The deputy SPD chairwoman Serpil Midyatli accused him of focusing on faster deportations. “That, dear Olaf, is not why we won the 2021 election,” she said, triggering cheers from around 500 delegates.

Other speakers also vented their frustration. One delegate said that support for Scholz was “not God-given.” “I don’t know if I’ll stand in the cold and campaign for Olaf.”

Esken does not see the SPD being damaged by the K debate

Esken still said that there was now “great unity” in the SPD. “We emerge from this debate not damaged, but also stronger,” she said. “Such a united party, which now gathers behind the top staff and runs together, is the strength of the SPD. This is how we will win the election.”

Deputy party leader Hubertus Heil also called on the Jusos to now concentrate on the election in three months on February 23rd. The SPD now has to “pull itself together and stand together so that we win”. After all, it is “not a self-help group.”

Scholz not at the Juso congress again

The Young Socialists are the SPD’s youth organization with around 70,000 members between the ages of 14 and 35. They make up almost a quarter of the SPD representatives in the Bundestag. Scholz did not take part in the federal congress. The former Juso deputy head has never been to a party youth congress in his almost three years as head of government.

Pistorius calls Scholz “the right candidate for chancellor”

Clearly behind Scholz at the weekend was someone else whose support the Chancellor will particularly need in the election campaign. The defense minister and, according to polls, the country’s most popular politician, Pistorius, called him the “right candidate for chancellor” at an event organized by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Arnsberg in the Sauerland region. He stands for “reason, calm and prudence and for a clear compass”.

Pistorius emphasized again that he had never put himself forward as a candidate and that he did not want the debate. “I love my current job, I really do,” he said. He is not yet finished with his work for the Bundeswehr and is aiming for a second term as Defense Minister.

Big election campaign kick-off on November 30th

After being nominated to the party executive committee, Scholz, Esken and Klingbeil will answer questions from the capital’s journalists together on Monday. On November 30th, Scholz is scheduled to give his first major campaign speech at an “election victory conference” in the Willy Brandt House in Berlin. The starting position could hardly be worse. In the surveys, the SPD is around 16 to 19 points behind the Union at 14 to 16 percent.