By Zara Riffler and Carl-Victor Wachs
What do I care about yesterday’s gossip? The SPD falls to 18.4 percent in the Berlin election, its worst result ever. And yet the SPD leadership in the capital simply wants to continue governing. As if nothing had happened.
The governing mayor and SPD loser Franziska Giffey (44): “It takes political majorities to lead a state government.” She wanted to speak to the CDU as well as to the Greens and the Left. Goal: a government under SPD leadership.
The power burrs from the SPD! Despite the election debacle, Giffey receives support from the entire party leadership.
► SPD leader Saskia Esken (61) sees the CDU not in a position to lead a government despite the election victory (28.2 percent). Esken: “What the result already shows is that a government coalition under Franziska Giffey and the SPD, with the participation of the SPD, is possible.”
► SPD leader Lars Klingbeil (44) admits that “this is not a nice result”. But he also gives Giffey backing: “The question now is: who can form a stable government?”
► SPD General Kevin Kühnert (33) wishes that Giffey remains in power: “We in the SPD wish that they can continue to do so. That’s why we campaigned so that she can remain governing mayor.”
The election burrs from the SPD! Despite the election debacle, the Social Democrats want to remain in power.
The SPD leadership had spoken quite differently after the 2021 federal election. At that time, the Social Democrats were not behind, but in front – and denied the second-placed Union the right to form a government.
The SPD leader said on September 27, 2021 that the CDU and CSU were the “blatant losers in the election”. She was surprised “that the CDU and CSU believe that they can derive a government-forming mandate from this result”.
And the SPD General Klingbeil at the time sounded: “We are ahead, we have made it to number 1. The SPD has the government mandate.”
Olaf Scholz (64, SPD) in the SPD party executive after the federal election was also very clear: “Parties that have been voted out should not try to form a government. That delegitimizes them before it even gets started.”
All of a sudden forgotten! Even the fact that Giffey lost her direct mandate in Neukölln doesn’t seem to shake the SPD. She wants to stay in power and rule. No matter what was declared 17 months ago.
Is the SPD now bending its claim to government?