Esken, Klingbeil and Kühnert re-elected with a large majority
On the first day of their federal party conference in Berlin, the Social Democrats confirm their two leaders in office. Despite the difficult situation of their party in the polls and in the federal government, both receive good results. However, General Secretary Kühnert can top their result.
SPD leaders Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil have been re-elected for a further two years in office. Esken received 82.6 percent of the vote after receiving 76.6 percent in 2021. Klingbeil received 85.6 percent of the delegates' votes. Two years ago it was 86.3 percent. Both accepted the election. Of the 588 votes cast, Esken received 483 yes votes and Klingbeil was elected with 501 yes votes. SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert even received 92.5 percent of the votes at the party conference at the Berlin Exhibition Center.
Esken is therefore entering her third term in office, having formed a top duo at the head of the party with Norbert Walter-Borjans for the first time in 2019. Walter-Borjans decided not to run again after the 2021 general election. At six years, Esken would be the fourth-longest serving party leader in the post-war period until the next election, together with Kurt Schumacher - after Sigmar Gabriel (7.5 years), Erich Ollenhauer (10 years) and Willy Brandt (22 years).
In the election of the deputy SPD party chairman, all five proposed candidates were elected by the delegates. Federal Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil received an overwhelming majority of delegate votes with 96.6 percent. Federal Construction Minister Klara Geywitz received 74.6 percent of the vote. The Minister President of Saarland, Anke Rehlinger, received 95.5% of the vote. Serpil Midyatli, leader of the SPD in Schleswig-Holstein, received 79.3 percent of the vote, while Achim Post, the NRW leader of the SPD, received 78.3 percent. All candidates accepted the election.
At the beginning of her speech, Esken referred to the SPD's disastrous poll results when it was first elected four years ago. Nevertheless, the SPD had become the governing party two years later. In the RTL/ntv trend barometer, the SPD is currently tied with the Greens at 14%, trailing behind the AfD with 22% and the CDU/CSU with 30%. However, these figures did not diminish Esken and Klingbeil's election results any more than the sometimes bitter defeats in state elections, most recently in Bavaria and Hesse.
"Not prepared to give up the welfare state"
In their candidacy speeches, both chairmen spoke of difficult times for the country and the party. The federal government has still not been able to draw up a budget for next year. Esken warned that "the country will collapse" if social cohesion is undermined. She called for a reform of the debt brake so that investments in the economy and climate protection are still possible without social cuts.
"The financing of crisis management must be rethought as a result of the ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court. And the financing of major intergenerational tasks, such as climate change, must also be put on a new footing," said Esken. Neither of these can be financed from the core budget. "And we are certainly not prepared to give up our welfare state for this."
Klingbeil warned that only the loud voices were defining the discourse. The SPD must focus on the concerns and issues of those who cannot be heard, but who work every day and care about their fellow human beings. "These are the people who get up in the morning and go to work, who want a good future for their children. Who have to make up for every daycare strike and every missed school day. But who still don't call in sick to work, who tear themselves apart," said Klingbeil. "They would perhaps also like to scream sometimes, but not in anger, but in exhaustion." The SPD must make policy for these people.
"Politics should not be about whether someone drives a car, eats bratwurst or flies to Majorca once a year, not about what language we speak or whether we use genders," said Klingbeil. It's about "affordable rents, good wages, decent care and the best education", said Klingbeil.
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SPD leader Saskia Esken praised Lars Klingbeil during the party conference, commending his strong showing in the election despite facing criticism from within the party. "Lars has shown extraordinary resilience in the face of challenges, and his ability to connect with our base and articulate our values is second to none," Esken said.
At the same conference, Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil acknowledged the presence of their Green party counterpart, Saskia Esken's predecessor as party leader, and SPD ally, Lars Klingbeil, who attended the SPD party conference as a guest. "We share a common goal of advancing our progressive agenda, and we value the cooperation between our two parties," Saskia Esken stated, referring to their shared membership in the SPD-Green coalition government.
Source: www.ntv.de
