SPD party conference: | tagesschau.de

It’s not easy for the SPD: approval is low, the traffic lights are divided, the challenges are huge. The party leaders Esken and Klingbeil still tried valiantly to create a spirit of optimism – and were then re-elected.

The almost 600 delegates were almost certainly shocked by the latest survey results: 14 percent for the SPD. But they didn’t want sadness to dominate the start of the party conference. Therefore, the Prime Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate, Malu Dreyer, explained right at the beginning. “In 2019, the SPD was actually moderated. Shortly afterwards we entered the German Bundestag as the strongest faction.”

However, “Those who were declared dead live longer” is not the motto of the party conference, but rather “Germany.Better.Fair.” The two party leaders Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil also emphasized this in their speeches. Esken in particular then worked on the fact that Friedrich Merz and his CDU did not make Germany better and fairer, but rather divided it.

Criticism of Merz, clear stance against AfD

“It hurts me to say this, but it no longer has anything to do with a serious people’s party. No sense of responsibility. No love for the country. There is only political vandalism,” said Esken.

And its co-chair Lars Klingbeil also took aim at the opposition in his speech. The focus here is on the AfD: “Dear comrades, the AfD is leading this country to ruin. Nothing will get better through this party. Let’s state that clearly. The AfD stands for fewer rights for employees, worse wages, less participation. The AfD is an anti-worker party. And it hates nothing more than the rule of law and our democracy.”

Reflection on the social democratic core

But the speeches were still about the SPD. Klingbeil in particular sent the room into a state of ecstasy as he delved deeply into the souls of his comrades. “We are fighting alongside companies and employees for a strong industry in Germany. We want the jobs of the future to be created here. We are fighting for every industrial job. Dear comrades, that is our task and our attitude in this country “, Klingbeil calls out to his party.

Of course, both Klingbeil and Esken couldn’t get past the traffic light government’s budget deficit. The SPD leadership wants to reform the debt brake and once again campaigned vigorously for it, which particularly upset Juso boss Philipp Türmer: “The debt brake is a brake on confidence. It is a shackles for social democratic politics. Let us finally shake off this shackles.”

Debt brake reform

There was definitely a need to speak: 43 requests to speak, some for the reform of the debt brake, few as radical as the Juso boss. In the end, the party leadership’s amended proposal to reform the debt brake passed. There is now a demand to reject rigid limits on borrowing by the federal and state governments.

The mood in the hall was defiantly optimistic: “Let’s make our SPD strong. Let’s show that it can be the leading government party,” said party leader Esken. The fact that she started croaking at this point was not taken as an omen for the Chancellor’s policies. On Saturday it will be Olaf Scholz’s turn to give his speech. He will have to invest a lot to get the comrades out of their seats. How can it work? His party leader Lars Klingbeil showed him how to do it today.