Government formation: BAS before top positions? – “Decide on my life”

Former Bundestag President Bärbel BAS (SPD) is covered with a view to the posting of the position in the government, party and parliament for his own ambitions. The wish in the SPD as the future party leader “was not hidden from her,” Bas told BAS to the “Tagesspiegel”. “If I have an answer to this question, I will talk to Lars Klingbeil and Saskia Esken, and only then with the media,” she emphasized.

As a future SPD chairman, BAS is under discussion alongside party leader Klingbeil, as Federal Minister of Labor or SPD parliamentary group leader. In the party, there was recently resentment about co-party leader Saskia Esken. The Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Saarland, Manuela Schwesig and Anke Rehlinger, have already said that they are not available for the SPD chair.

When asked whether she could ignore the call for an SPD boss Bas, she said: “In the end, I decide on my life myself.” She had negotiated the coalition agreement and is happy about the great approval of the party members. “The SPD’s Personal Tableau is still shaking together. Just wait for the coming Monday,” advised BAS. So far, it is only known that Klingbeil, as finance minister and Vice Chancellor, wants to switch to CDU boss Friedrich Merz’s cabinet. The other six ministers of the SPD are to be named on May 5, one day before the planned election of Merz as Chancellor in the Bundestag.

Job description for parliamentary group chair

At the same time, BAS formulated some prerequisites that an SPD parliamentary group leader or an SPD parliamentary group leader should have. “Anyone who will be at the head of the SPD parliamentary group will need experience, strength and pragmatism. He or she has to support this government with power.” The bosses of both government factions would also have to “find a good connection to each other and get along with each other.” This applies here: “Trust is necessary so that we are successful. The expectations of us are huge.” You and the designated Union faction leader Jens Spahn (CDU) would “have known each other” for a long time. Bas added: “We have already argued and we have successfully fought projects together.”

At the same time, BAS was appreciating about Union politicians with whom she had to do with the coalition negotiations. She called CDU general secretary Carsten Linnemann (CDU) and the designated ministers for research and education, Dorothee Bär (CSU) and Karin Prien (CDU). “I can only say good things about these long conversations. That was constructive, professional and respectful, has donated trust. We need this spirit.”