Giffey relinquishes SPD chairmanship in Berlin
Franziska Giffey loses the position of governing mayor in the repeat election in Berlin, but saves herself in the new black-red Senate in the economic department - and remains SPD chairwoman. However, the party changes the requirements for becoming a member of the state executive. Now the 45-year-old is withdrawing from the SPD leadership.
Berlin SPD state chairwoman Franziska Giffey does not want to run for the office again. "The past few months have shown that there is a desire for a reorganization in our party and that we need not only structural but also personnel changes and a new leadership model," she wrote in a letter to the members of the state association. "In my view, it is crucial for overcoming the enormous challenges we face that responsibility is spread across several shoulders, that we broaden our party's base and that more people are given responsibility to take on these major challenges for the future." She has therefore decided not to run for the SPD state chairmanship again in the party elections in May.
Giffey had come under massive criticism within the Berlin SPD after losing the repeat election in February. Not only the Jusos, but also several district associations spoke out against a coalition with the CDU, which Giffey and her co-chairman Raed Saleh were campaigning for. In a member vote, there was only a narrow majority in favor of a black-red coalition. Previously, the Social Democrats had led a red-red-green state government in which Giffey was mayor. In the new Senate under CDU leadership, she is responsible for the economic department.
"Concentrating on my other tasks"
At the state party conference last May, delegates also decided that politicians who are senators, state secretaries or parliamentary group leaders should no longer be in the majority in the seven-member executive state executive committee. According to the resolution, the dual leadership should also "not consist entirely" of people who also play a key role in government. This has been the case until now. Either Giffey or Saleh would therefore have to relinquish the office.
"I will focus all my energy on the other tasks I perform for our party," she wrote. Giffey is Senator for Economic Affairs, a member of the House of Representatives, coordinator of the SPD-led Senate administrations and mayor. "My commitment continues to be to our SPD - especially for the upcoming election campaign for the partial repeat of the Bundestag elections and the European elections."
The SPD parliamentary group announced that it had taken note of Giffey's decision with great respect. "In difficult times, she has led two election campaigns and has done or is doing very good work for Berlin as Governing Mayor and Mayoress." It is still unclear whether parliamentary group and party leader Saleh will run again at the party conference.
Giffey resigned from her position as governing mayor in February following the SPD's losses in the repeated elections to the Berlin House of Representatives. In 2021, she resigned from her position as Federal Minister for Family Affairs in the context of plagiarism allegations. She was subsequently stripped of her doctorate in political science for misrepresenting the content of her dissertation.
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After relinquishing her role as Berlin's governing mayor due to the election losses, Franziska Giffey continues her responsibilities in the Senate as the head of the economic department, maintaining her position as SPD chairwoman in Berlin despite the party's changes in membership requirements for the state executive.
Undeterred by the criticism she faced within the Berlin SPD, Giffey focuses on her other duties, such as serving as Senator for Economic Affairs, a member of the House of Representatives, and coordinator of the SPD-led Senate administrations, while also committing herself to the party during the upcoming election campaigns.
Source: www.ntv.de
