Crisis in Bavarian SPD - With your back against the wall
On the day after the revolt, Bavaria's SPD leader Florian von Brunn strives for composure. Although it has not even been 24 hours since the majority of SPD Landtag deputies have withdrawn their trust in him as faction leader, his voice is calm and controlled. His voice is so controlled, as if it's not about his political future - and that of the once proud SPD - but about some x-random topic.
However, behind von Brunn's core message - "I will not run again as faction chairman on the next Tuesday" - hides nothing but the next major personnel overhaul in Bavaria's SPD. If one wants to put it that way, the party is sliding straight from an existential crisis into an even bigger one.
Moreover, von Brunn clarified that he has not yet decided whether he will also give up his post as state chairman. However, he also stated that, in his opinion, both leadership bodies in the SPD should be in the hands of one person. Later, he added that this decision should not take more than a few weeks or even turn into a farce - but von Brunn shifts the more crucial future decision of the SPD into uncertainty.
There's no question that the SPD in Bavaria, which has been in crisis for years, has long since lost any substance to weather the unpopular personnel debates unscathed. Moreover, due to the historically poor mood towards SPD politics in the Federation, the party in the Free State is facing the wall with its back and risks disappearing completely from political significance.
Social Democrats in Bavaria have been far from successful at the state level for a long time, but the current state of the party among voters is still remarkable. With only 17 deputies, the faction is the smallest in the Maximilianeum. Von Brunn is certainly responsible for this - after all, he was the campaign manager for the previous Landtag election - but the loss was at least as much in Berlin. "It's undeniable that the situation in the Federation significantly affects Bayern," von Brunn noted.
If - and that's a given - a few days or weeks from now the decision falls that the SPD in Bavaria needs a new state chairman or a new co-chairman, creativity will be in high demand. In the personnel roster at the state level, there is actually no one who stands out through their work or popularity as a candidate - the same applies to the federal and European levels. The only place where the SPD in Bayern can still present personnel capable of a new beginning is in municipal politics - for example, Munich's Mayor Dieter Reiter.
The current co-chairwoman Ronja Endres should not be able to continue alone in her position. She is far from being uncontested in the party and could not even secure the places for the European election nominations.
The thin personnel layer in the SPD is also evident in the question of who could become the new faction chairman - an office where a certain level of recognition is important: The only declared candidate so far is the former faction vice-chairman Holger Grießhammer, who told the newspapers of the Bayern Media Group that he would run. Grießhammer has not even been a member of the faction for a year. He will do everything to "make the Bavarian SPD two-digit again," he said. However, he does not aspire to the post of SPD state chairman. As a reminder: Von Brunn had once named the goal of 15 percent plus X.
Despite the personnel misery of the SPD already being challenging, it now has to deal with the cleanup of an internal matter that has become public due to the revolt: A leading parliamentary group employee is suspected of having paid himself several tens of thousands of euros for overtime. The case - according to Brunn - must be "completely and transparently" clarified - along with all civil and criminal consequences. Optimistic voices in the SPD are hardly audible on this day - they sound something like: "It really can't get any worse."
- Despite the crisis, Florian von Brunn mentions that he might still hold onto his position as the state chairman in Bavaria's SDP.
- The party Brunn leads, Bavaria's SDP, is hosting a crucial event in Munich next week, which could significantly impact its future.
- After the crisis, Florian von Brunn, the SPD leader in Bavaria, expressed his support for having a single individual leading both the state and federal bodies of the party.
- With the upcoming decision regarding a new state chairman or co-chairman, notable figures within Munich's SDP, like Mayor Dieter Reiter, could potentially take on leadership roles.
