The young SPD has a new chairman: Philipp Türmer, 27, will lead the Jusos in the future – and is likely to be quite uncomfortable for the mother party and the Chancellor.
Friedrich Merz? Alice Weidel? Sure, they are all uncomfortable opponents for Olaf Scholz. But now the Chancellor has another one added – from his own ranks: Philip Turmer.
The 27-year-old was elected as the new chairman at the federal congress of the Jusos, the SPD’s youth organization. He succeeds Jessica Rosenthal, who did not run again after three years: She will soon be a mother, wants to concentrate on the family and sent a farewell video message to Braunschweig.
Although youth associations are traditionally considered rebellious, their new chairman is upset. At least. About misguided Social Democrats and their chancellor who have lost sight of what is important (social justice) and are moving fatally to the right (in migration policy). Türmer in his application speech: “Stop, and that’s also on Olaf, to convince you that everything is okay!” Rumms. Rhythmic clapping and loud cheers from the 300 delegates.
If you follow the chain of evidence, the qualified economist from Offenbach is likely to become quite uncomfortable for both the traffic light and the SPD. Türmer represents the Jusos on the federal executive board, and the young people also represent 50 members of the Bundestag parliamentary group. A power bloc without which the Chancellor and the coalition would not have a majority.
“Dear Olaf, I’m not finished yet”
And Türmer leaves no doubt that he is not afraid of a confrontation. Regarding Scholz’s “respect election campaign” he hurls in the direction of the Chancellery: “What has become of it? I am horrified.” The fight against poverty: The FDP in particular is preventing any social progress. The queues at the food banks are getting longer, the queues in front of the Rolex stores are simply not getting any shorter, complains the young socialist. “Finally redistribute, tax the fucking rich!”
Clear announcements, without end. But: “Dear Olaf,” says Türmer, “I’m not finished yet.”
Which party is the chancellor, why are the Liberals letting themselves be driven like this? “Finally overturn this godless debt brake,” demands the new Juso chairman. Germany is the only country that wants to save its way out of an economic crisis. Now of all times, after the “60 billion euro shot” from Karlsruhe, which apparently no one wants to hear.
On Wednesday, the Federal Constitutional Court overturned the climate fund. Due to the colossal budget gap, projects for the conversion to a climate-neutral economy are now at stake. Turmer, very clearly: “There is no green zero with the black zero, even if the yellow zero has to disappear from the Ministry of Finance.” He will probably no longer be an FDP fan.
Short text message to a Juso present: How is it? “Really strong,” especially the criticism of Scholz, “hit the problem pretty well.” Ouch.
Very close
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In the end, the applause barometer shows 2 minutes and 28 seconds, for competitor Sarah Mohamed it is a little less. In her speech, the 31-year-old focused more on structural racism, even indirectly accused the party of it and emphasized her biography as a person of color and feminist. This triggered a real storm of cheers among the delegates from North Rhine-Westphalia – their regional association is by far the largest. For comparison: Hesse-South, Türmer’s district, is about two-thirds smaller. Until the end it was unclear who would win the race.
The result: Of 298 valid votes, 162 went to Türmer and 132 to Mohamed. Another short text message to the front rows: Happy? “Yes!” But: Türmer now has to rally both camps behind him. Not hard political work, but still challenging. Mohamed versus Türmer was a duel left against left. But the larger Berlin regional association also clapped, especially for Mohamed.
Now Scholz has his courage
Türmer seems to be in the right place at the right time. He is conscious of his mission and regularly opposes federal politics. Just one example: After Scholz’s interview, which was very disturbing for many Jusos and who announced with a gloomy look from the “Spiegel” cover that he now wanted to deport “finally” and “on a large scale”, Türmer said via X: The SPD is standing not united behind it, as Scholz claimed, and certainly not himself. “I could puke at that quote,” he wrote.
It is obvious that the 27-year-old wants to make the association more visible and louder again after the difficult (and inevitably quieter) Corona years. Predecessor Rosenthal began her term in office in 2020 the way it ended: via video. In addition, the surprising SPD victory in the 2021 federal elections also disciplined the Jusos and perhaps even took them by surprise. Slightly more experienced comrades in the Bundestag still complain today that the next generation still has to learn their craft. But they also say: They, the Jusos, are conscious of power.
Türmer could be for the traffic light coalition what former Juso chairman Kevin Kühnert once was for the grand coalition: a tormentor who says what many young socialists think – and thus drives the mother party ahead of him. A coalition scare.
For Kühnert, it was the unpopular government alliance with the Union that reduced the SPD’s profile beyond recognition. For Türmer, it could be the disturbed relationship between the FDP and the Greens that forced the SPD into the role of mediator and moderator – which also affects the social democrats’ program.
The Jusos claim, not without pride, that they have already pushed the federal party to rethink their approach. A reform of the debt brake, higher taxes for high earners and the rich – that’s what they’ve been demanding here for a long time. These demands are now also included in the federal party’s key proposal for the federal party conference at the beginning of December.
The SPD can expect something as early as Saturday. Then co-party leader Saskia Esken and Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil will be guest speakers in Braunschweig, and today’s SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert has also been announced.
The Chancellor was also invited, but declined – early on, as we can hear. Because of Erdogan’s visit? Has not been handed down. People here are still irritated. It is said here that even Chancellor Angela Merkel came to every Germany Day of the Junge Union – the CDU counterpart to the Jusos.
Türmer still tries to send a message. “Dear Olaf, you didn’t have time to come to us,” says the Juso boss, only half disappointed. If anything else reaches him in his “castle, the Berlin Chancellery”: “Change your course.” The Chancellor should finally make the fight against poverty and distributive justice a “top priority”.
Otherwise he won’t have to count on the Jusos in the next election campaign. The fronts have been clarified.