Gerhard Schröder sees the SPD on the wrong path and calls for “more of its own profile”
Gerhard Schröder (SPD), former Federal Chancellor
Source: AFP/GREGOR FISCHER
In an interview, former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder criticized his party. He advises the Social Democrats to change course. Among other things, Schröder accused the SPD of allowing itself to be driven too much by the Greens when it came to climate policy.
AFederal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder sees the SPD on the wrong course and believes a different policy is necessary in view of the election defeats in Bavaria and Hesse. “Just holding everything together is a bit small,” Schröder told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” (Saturday) and called for his party to have more of its own “profile.”
Instead of investing primarily in rearmament, more investments in infrastructure, education and housing are urgently needed; here the dissatisfaction among the people is particularly great, said Schröder. German schools are miserable. Economic well-being depends on what is done at universities and in research. “Basically, we would need at least a triple oomph. And the biggest impact has to end up in the education system,” said Schröder. In addition, a “oomph for housing construction” is also necessary.
The SPD praises unity and harmony as the new recipe for success, but its own profile is hardly visible in the traffic light coalition, criticized Schröder. “What does the new recipe for success mean when you’re at 15 percent? I stopped at 34 percent,” Schröder told the newspaper.
Schröder also accused the SPD of allowing itself to be driven too much by the Greens when it comes to climate policy. However, the former Chancellor also admitted that it would be much more difficult in a constellation with the Greens and the FDP than it was with just the red-green party.
Schröder criticized a too one-sided focus on defense spending. “Do you seriously believe that Russian medium-range missiles would be fired at Germany?” asked the 79-year-old. “Scholz said: 100 billion for the Bundeswehr – and nobody knows what for.”
When it came to asylum policy, Schröder spoke to the “SZ” in favor of strict limits on immigration. “Controlling migration means limiting migration. The SPD must be a pioneer in this regard,” he demanded.
Because of his stance on Russia and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin, Schröder and the SPD had recently become very estranged; the former chancellor recently survived an exclusion process.