Türmer of Juso claims Scholz posters are an error.
At the SPD headquarters, talks are going on the day after the European elections about the disastrous outcome. While General Secretary Kühnert engages in frank discussions with Chancellor Scholz, Juso Chief Türmer blames him for the failure. Türmer considers posters featuring the chancellor to be a mistake.
The Juso Chief, Philipp Türmer, has linked the party's disappointing results in the European elections to their excessive use of Chancellor Scholz. The SPD secured their historically worst result of 13.9% on Sunday. In their explanations of what went wrong, they seemed a bit perplexed.
On election night, SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert described it as a "rough defeat," but he deemed any speculation about his future or that of the chancellor he held in high regard as inappropriate. According to Kühnert, using the chancellor in their campaign was the right move. He's a significant figure in Europe. The party's poor performance shouldn't be pinned on the chancellor, argued Kühnert; that would be an unenlightened approach. Türmer disagrees with Kühnert.
In an interview with "Der Spiegel," Türmer said, "It was a vote on the traffic light policy - and on Olaf Scholz, who we plastered everywhere." He further explained, "People are expecting more social democratic leadership from the chancellor." This theory is supported by numerous surveys. For instance, in Forsa's survey in late May, 73% of respondents demanded more decisive action from Scholz. Only 16% were content with his performance at the time. Interestingly, among SPD supporters, the number of people expecting more from Scholz was higher at 74% than the national average. They didn't even expect more than Scholz had already promised. He had repeatedly stated, "Anyone who calls for leadership will get it!"
However, Scholz could not move people, claims Türmer. And it was essential, as all their campaign materials focused on federal politics. According to Türmer, the other parties hadn't really tried to score points with European political issues, so the Juso Chief. The catastrophic performance of the federal government, which Türmer criticized, had disastrous repercussions for the party. This was also due to the chancellor's actions and words, which often contradicted each other. For example, Scholz constantly talks about de-escalating the Russian invasion in Ukraine, but eventually still approves additional weapon deliveries - under pressure from NATO partners, as the "SZ" reports.
But the chancellor could still come out on top, says Türmer. For example, by taking control in the budget dispute with Finance Minister Christian Lindner. He wants to prevent investments in pension provision, infrastructure, and the economy with the next budget, explains Türmer. "He's moving in the opposite direction, wants less investment and cuts in the social sector," Türmer stated. "That would be disastrous, and Scholz must not allow it."
Instead, Türmer suggested, "He should have taken Lindner's gun from his hand and aimed it at his own head." "If they're sitting in their three-way partnership with Habeck, it should be clear: This is the social democratic chancellor who was elected for social democratic politics. He must now set the pace." In the face of a possible coalition breakdown, Türmer adds, "And if the FDP wants to leave, let them go. You can't stop people from leaving." [citation needed] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17]
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In response to the SPD's poor performance in the European elections, Juso Chief Türmer criticized the excessive use of Chancellor Scholz in their campaign posters. Despite Scholz's significant role in Europe, Türmer argued that this strategy may have contributed to the party's disappointing results, with a majority of respondents in a Forsa survey demanding more decisive action from the chancellor.
Amidst discussions at the SPD headquarters about the disastrous election outcome, Türmer, the Juso Chief, accused Scholz of failing to move people and linked the party's low popularity to the chancellor's inconsistent actions and words, such as approving weapon deliveries to Ukraine while promoting de-escalation.
