If you don’t want someone around, you’re happy to recommend the place where the pepper grows to him or her. But you can also wish someone to go to Weiden in the Upper Palatinate, where no pepper grows. Nevertheless, the general secretary of the Bavarian SPD, Arif Taşdelen, would banish his greatest enemy there. He was asked that in the Marlen News, a magazine that, in its own words, reports monthly on “the highlights of society” in Franconia, where Taşdelen has its constituency. In addition, you will find “interesting statements by personalities from business, politics and sport”. Taşdelen’s curse on the willow is probably a highlight and an interesting statement at the same time.
This does not go unnoticed, especially by natives of Weiden, such as Stephan Oetzinger, member of the CSU state parliament. He wrote a letter to Taşdelen asking for an apology. Oetzinger considers Taşdelen’s statement neither interesting nor a highlight, but an “insult to an entire city”. But maybe the CSUler is on the wrong track and it’s not about pastures per se.
Weiden has a red mayor and has been an SPD stronghold for many years. There aren’t too many of those in Bavaria. So why would SPD man Taşdelen banish his enemies to the SPD paradise in Upper Palatinate? When asked about his greatest enemy, Taşdelen obviously immediately thinks of Weiden, and perhaps it is no coincidence that his predecessor as General Secretary, Uli Grötsch, came from exactly there. Taşdelen said it was during his tenure with the SPD “permanently gone down”. Interesting.
Another highlight: SPD veteran Ludwig Stiegler also comes from Weiden. When he was active, he was also called “Rambo from the Upper Palatinate” or “the biggest bully in the SPD”. Does Taşdelen want to bring a bit of momentum into the Bavarian SPD when – as Stiegler was also called – “red Rumpelstiltskin”? After all, it means General secretaries are responsible for provoking. So Taşdelen’s willow bashing is a tribute. But what doesn’t fit with this is Taşdelen’s answer to another question in the interview. His greatest strength is empathy.