After criticism from its own ranks: SPD Berlin plans presence party conference in May

California18

1 year ago

After criticism from within its own ranks, the SPD Berlin is presenting its party conference, originally planned for the end of June, in May. The party congress will take place on May 26th, a party spokesman told the Tagesspiegel. Some members of the membership wanted the party conference to take place earlier in order to exchange ideas after the election and the coalition-building phase.

The meeting was originally planned for the end of June and only in digital form. There was much criticism of that. The worst result for the SPD Berlin after reunification requires a timely review, it said.

The coalition negotiations with the CDU continue to lead to controversy in the district associations of the SPD Berlin. On Saturday, the Tempelhof-Schoeneberg district association voted 71 yes and 30 no votes for a motion by the Jusos entitled “Kai is the wrong first name for the Red Town Hall – no coalition with the CDU”.

Protest against “regression coalition”

Hundreds of people gathered in Berlin on Saturday against the plans of the CDU and SPD to form a coalition protested. According to the organizers, around 2,000 people took part in a demonstration that led from Hermannplatz in Neukölln in the direction of Mitte. The police spoke of about 800 participants.

Called to the demo had a Alliance of various civil society initiatives, who see a “regression coalition” in an alliance of CDU and SPD. According to their own statements, the Jusos Berlin had also signed the demo call.

The demo organizers fear in rent policy, climate and transport policy as well as domestic policy that from their point of view, progress made under red-green-red will be reversed under black-red. Banners from demonstrators read “Never CDU” or “Berlin resists”. Politicians from the Greens and the Left also took part in the procession. (dpa)

The district association is considered particularly left. The members are the Berlin Juso chairman Sinem Taşan-Funke and the former federal Juso chairman and current SPD general secretary Kevin Kühnert. SPD district chief Lars Rauchfuss spoke out early on against a black-red coalition. After Steglitz-Zehlendorf and Neukölln, only three out of twelve SPD district associations (Tempelhof-Schöneberg) have positioned themselves against a coalition with the CDU.

District associations meet without the press

The Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf district association decided on Friday at its district delegates’ meeting, to which party leader Franziska Giffey was also invited, against voting on the coalition negotiations. “We didn’t make a decision because we didn’t want to anticipate a member’s vote,” said district chief Kian Niromaand, who is also a member of the state board.

But there was a “good, critical debate” that was balanced. After the conclusion of the coalition negotiations, the SPD Berlin will let its members vote on the coalition agreement between April 4th and 21st.

The fact that the district party conferences in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and Tempelhof-Schoeneberg were held without the press should be seen as a sign of increasing nervousness. One wanted to allow all members an open debate, it was said to justify.

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