Party congress: Woidke confirmed as SPD leader in Brandenburg

Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke was confirmed as SPD head of state in office – with a little less tailwind than two years ago. The 63-year-old received 84.9 percent of the vote at the SPD state party conference in Cottbus, two years ago it was 90.8 percent. At that time that was his second best result as a SPD state chairman.

For Woidke, 107 of the 126 delegates voted, 14 voted with no and 5 abstained. Woidke has been in office since 2013 and thus the longest reigning SPD state chair. He replaced Matthias Platzeck in 2013. In 2021, Woidke received 84.4 percent in re -election.

Woidke considers AfD ban on the right – but sees hurdles

In his speech, the head of government spoke out for an AfD ban if courts had confirmed the classification of the party as secured right-wing extremist. He called this classification in a comprehensible and consistent manner at the federal and state level. But he admitted: “It will be a long, a rocky, difficult political and legal path.”

After the attack on a democracy test in Bad Freienwalde, Woidke condemned two injured hatred and agitation. “We have to protect the people who are committed to freedom and democracy,” said Woidke. It called stability and security as its most important goals.

Letter from ex-interior minister

The Brandenburg SPD, which has been in Brandenburg for 35 years, has had turbulent weeks. Ex-Interior Minister Katrin Lange, who had resigned in May, criticized the handling of party friends with her in an open letter to the party conference as unbearable and spoke of intrigue. The outgoing vice head of the state warned of difficult times for the SPD if debates were not carried out with more and there were more openness to other opinions. It was not present at the party congress for a long time.