Personnel rogue
The SPD head proposes Kühnert as the new general secretary
SPD politician Kevin Kühnert is considered the new general secretary of his party. Photo: Andreas Arnold / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
The party rebel should become a manager. If Kevin Kühnert rises to the position of general secretary of the SPD, a hard-won balance could shake.
Just in time for the change of government, a breath of fresh air is entering the closest leadership ranks of the SPD: Former Juso boss Kevin Kühnert is to become general secretary.
The party leadership suggested the 32-year-old for the office according to dpa information. The presidium and the party executive approved the change.
Powerful managerial position
Kühnert should move up from the post of the party index to the powerful managerial post because the incumbent Lars Klingbeil is applying for the party chairmanship. According to the party leadership’s plan, the state chairman of North Rhine-Westphalia, Thomas Kutschaty, will replace Kühnert’s deputy. The new SPD leadership will be elected at a party congress on December 11th.
No changes are planned for the remaining leadership positions: Saskia Esken will take up the position again as chairwoman, while the SPD leader Anke Rehlinger from Saarland, the SPD chairwoman from Schleswig-Holstein, Serpil Midyatli, Klara Geywitz from Brandenburg and the deputy chairperson will continue to be responsible for the position previous Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil planned.
A close circle of chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz, the party leaders, the general secretary and the parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich had recently given all the important directional decisions in the SPD.
Close confidante of Klingbeil
Kühnert was previously considered a favorite for the office of party manager. He is a close confidante and even a friend of Klingbeil – although as Juso boss in 2017 he rebelled loudly against a coalition with the Union. In the election in September, the party left Kühnert moved into the Bundestag for the first time, wanting to deal with issues relating to housing and urban development.
As a party manager, the young Berliner is now facing another completely new role. His predecessor Klingbeil is considered to be one of the architects of the SPD’s election victory and played a major role in the cohesion of the formerly deeply divided wings of the party. Although he is a conservative Seeheimer, he always acted as a mediator between the fronts.
Boldly more rebellious
It remains to be seen whether Kühnert, who is clearly positioned on the left, can and will adopt this style. He is more rebellious and in the past has repeatedly triggered controversial debates in the party, but also in society. At the same time, however, he is considered to be the greatest political talent in the SPD. He is on good terms not only with the Jusos, but also with the party base in general.
Most recently it had become unusually quiet around Kühnert – so quiet that the competition claimed before the federal election that the SPD wanted to hide Kühnert and his sometimes controversial positions in the important phase of the election campaign. The main thing that stuck about his first speech in the Bundestag was that he suddenly wore a jacket, but at least he still wore sneakers and no tie.
At the federal Jusos congress last weekend, Kühnert already showed that his rise to the office of general secretary could change the hard-won balance at the top of the party. Kühnert emphasized that the differences of opinion between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP were not over with the planned traffic light government. “The parties of the Ampel coalition must also feel obliged to controversy. They shouldn’t hide the fact that they are different parties. ” Such a general secretary can quickly cause unrest in a ruling party.