Latest news with #Esken
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
German Social Democrats choosing new co-leader after poll drubbing
German Labour Minister Bärbel Bas has been nominated to become co-leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), dpa learnt on Monday, as the party reels from one of the worst election results in its history. The SPD, traditionally one of Germany's two mainstream political forces, was relegated to third place in February's general election behind the conservatives and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). Following more than three years at the helm of a squabbling, deeply unpopular centre-left alliance, the SPD agreed to enter a coalition government led by the conservatives which took office last week. But the damning result of 16.4% has left the party scrambling to reorganize its leadership, with co-leader Saskia Esken on Sunday announcing she would not run again after many within the party appeared to scapegoat her over the SPD's poor showing. Esken and fellow co-leader Lars Klingbeil, who has ascended the ranks to become finance minister and vice chancellor to conservative Friedrich Merz in the new Cabinet, have nominated Bäs to succeed Esken at a committee meeting, party sources told dpa. They also suggested Tim Klüssendorf, 33, for the post of party secretary general. If confirmed, he is set to succeed Matthias Miersch, who was elected SPD parliamentary group leader last week. Both Bas and Klüssendorf are part of the left party wing of the SPD, the Parliamentary Left. Klingbeil is expected to run again for the post of co-leader at a party conference at the end of June. A trained welder, Bas, 57, has been serving as a lawmaker for the SPD since 2009. She became better known during the last legislature when she served as president of the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament, the second highest office behind the president. Speaking at party headquarters in Berlin, Bas described assuming the post of co-leader as a historic task, saying she would place social security, educational equality and a modern, diverse society at the centre of her work.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Co-leader of Germany's SPD wants four female ministers in new Cabinet
At least four women from Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) should be ministers in the next government, the party's co-leader Saskia Esken told dpa. "Our goal must be to create parity in the Cabinet and across politics," said Esken in remarks published on Tuesday, days after the SPD reached a coalition agreement with conservative leader Friedrich Merz's CDU/CSU bloc. "Women form half of the population," she said. "We want [...] not only half of the cake, but half of the bakery." Under the terms of the coalition deal, the SPD is set to hold seven of the 16 Cabinet positions, despite winning only 16.4% of the vote in February's parliamentary election. Asked if she therefore meant that women should fill four of the posts, Esken replied, "If you can count, then yes, that adds up to four." The 63-year-old has not confirmed whether she is seeking a position in the new government. The outgoing SPD-led Cabinet under Chancellor Olaf Scholz was originally made up of nine men and eight women, failing to meet Scholz's stated aim of gender parity. The next administration is set to have an additional ministry, meaning parity would be possible in the Cabinet. However, the incoming chancellor Merz has not promised to aim for this. Only 22.1% of lawmakers from Merz's Christian Democrats (CDU) are women, compared to 25% for the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union (CSU) and 41.7% for the SPD.
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Germany's SPD campaigns for coalition agreement ahead of party vote
Leaders of Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD) urged the party's rank and file to approve a high-stakes coalition agreement to form the next government in Berlin. SPD leaders met for a conference in the northern city of Hanover on Monday as the party prepared to kick off a two-week online vote on the coalition agreement starting on Tuesday. "I don't want us to shy away from the situation, and I want us to shape the future of this country," party co-leader Lars Klingbeil said in Hanover. He warned party members against rejecting the coalition agreement. "If that fails, there will be new elections, or maybe there will be a minority government,' Klingbeil added. He also pointed to voices within the conservative bloc - which came out on top in February's general election - calling for a normalization of relations with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which came second ahead of the SPD but which so far the other parties have refused to work with. "If we fail, they will become louder." Party co-leader Saskia Esken also emphasized that in the new parliamentary term, it would be important for the new government to regain trust in democracy, which is being attacked by right-wing extremists. Some would speak of a "last chance," Esken warned. Internal vote runs until April 29 From Tuesday, 358,000 SPD party members will be able to vote on the coalition agreement with the conservative bloc made up of the Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union (CSU). An online platform is scheduled to be activated at 8 am (0600 GMT) on Tuesday for this purpose, and Social Democrats will be able to cast their votes on this platform until 11:59 pm on April 29. The result is due to be announced on April 30. For the coalition agreement to be adopted, not only a majority of the votes is required, but also a participation rate of at least 20% of the members in the purely digital vote. Coalition deal at stake Klingbeil and Esken are led the centre-left party's negotiations with conservative leader Friedrich Merz's CDU/CSU bloc, which concluded with the publication of a 144-page coalition deal on Wednesday setting out a programme for the next four years. The CSU has already approved the agreement, while the CDU are expected to do so in a small party conference on April 28. The SPD's rank and file previously voted by wide margins to approve coalition agreements with the CDU/CSU in 2013 and 2017. Opposition from SPD youth But in a warning sign to Klingbeil and Esken, the SPD's youth wing - known as the Young Socialists - on Monday said it would advise its members to reject the deal. "It's not enough for us," leader Philipp Türmer told broadcaster RTL/ntv. Türmer said the agreement takes the wrong course on key issues such as asylum, work and social policy, while it lacks ambition on other topics such as taxation and finances. He described the deal's financing proviso - which states that all the coalition's goals must be properly financed before they can be implemented - as a "ticking time bomb." Pending SPD and CDU approval of the coalition agreement, the new German government under the incoming chancellor Merz is set to take office on May 6.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'A lot to do' in negotiations on German coalition, SPD co-leader says
German political leaders still have "a lot to do" to reach an agreement on a governing coalition in Berlin, the co-chief of the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) said on Wednesday. Ahead of a further round of negotiations in the German capital, Saskia Esken said she is "convinced" that talks will extend into next week, as "there is still a lot to do." More than a month after the conservative CDU/CSU bloc - made up of Friedrich Merz's Christian Democrats and the Bavaria-only Christian Social Union - won parliamentary elections, negotiations are ongoing over a coalition with the SPD. Discussions are continuing on Wednesday in a group of 19 top representatives from both sides, including the country's presumptive next chancellor Merz, CSU boss Markus Söder and Lars Klingbeil, Esken's partner as SPD co-leader. The principal sticking points remain migration policy and cuts to welfare spending. Esken said the two camps are made up of "very, very different parties," but that they "feel a great responsibility" to come together to form a government. "This is truly encouraging, not for us, but for the country and its people," she added. Senior CSU lawmaker Alexander Dobrindt said he is "seeing movement" from the SPD on budgetary cuts, but that issues would need to be worked through thoroughly. "We do not want to allow any unresolved dissent to arise that could cause difficulties later," he said.
