SPD party conference: Klingbeil defends itself against criticism of the party base

According to the SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil, the start of the new federal government will not displace the processing of the SPD debacle in the Bundestag election. Of course, this was a low point of social democracy with 16.4 percent worst SPD result, Klingbeil admitted at the state party conference of the North Rhine-Westphalian SPD in Duisburg.

“We need an honest, more open, relentless discussion in the SPD, how we can get stronger again.” That will play a major role at the Federal Party Congress in June.

The past few weeks had been shaped by heights, depths, pace, difficult decisions and also injuries, Klingbeil stated. In view of the great upcoming tasks, however, it is essential that the party was closed and solidarity together. The new coalition, in which he is a vice -chancellor and Federal Minister of Finance, is “condemned to success”, emphasized Klingbeil.

Klingbeil admits errors

“Of course I also made mistakes and you have to talk about it,” he admitted. However, the party base was not satisfied with such concessions. Young comrades in particular accused Klingbeil not to have a plan to lead the SPD out of the valley. Others criticized that his co-chair Saskia Esken would “punish” while he was posting. Those who act like this have “lost the moral compass,” said a delegate from Gelsenkirchen.

The personnel decisions in the SPD were made with the entire leadership in the team, Klingbeil replied. In view of the miserable Bundestag election result, he said that he said that he warned against aligning the SPD more radical or moving further to the left. Instead, social democracy has to make politics more politics for the middle.