Bärbel Bas resigned as federal labor minister and SPD chair on Monday morning (Reuters, Tagesschau, Der Spiegel, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Handelsblatt, Die Zeit). She cites the death of her stepdaughter and public attacks, including from the coalition partner (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Die Zeit). Alexander Schweitzer, the former minister-president of Rhineland-Palatinate, is to succeed her at the ministry; according to Handelsblatt and Die Zeit he is to be appointed today. Lars Klingbeil wants the leadership re-elected at the party conference at the turn of the year and to remain vice chancellor and finance minister (Der Spiegel, Die Zeit). He laments a “poisoned” climate in federal politics (Die Zeit, Handelsblatt).
In one move the SPD loses its minister and one of its two chairs, in the middle of a coalition that is already under pressure after the elections in the East. Bas stood for the pension reform; whether it stays on schedule now depends on her successor.
For employees, the unemployed and pensioners, the ministry’s reform policy initially remains in force; Klingbeil promises that the pension reform will stay on schedule (Handelsblatt). Whether that holds will become clear in the coming weeks.
The resignation is a personal decision after a death; politics should tone down its rhetoric instead of looking for culprits.
If public attacks from the Union played a role, it is also a warning sign for the alliance, which will not last long this way.
We are watching three things: whether Schweitzer is appointed today as announced, whom the SPD fields for the party conference and whether Klingbeil can hold on. Whether the Union “pushed Bas out of office” is not established.
Reuters · Tagesschau · Der Spiegel · Süddeutsche Zeitung · Handelsblatt · Die Zeit · FAZ (all Oct. 12) · reasons per Bas
Bärbel Bas resigns as labor minister and SPD chair, Schweitzer to succeed her at the ministry today, Klingbeil wants the party leadership re-elected at the turn of the year
The minister cites the death of her stepdaughter and public attacks, including from the coalition partner. The SPD faces a question of power, and Klingbeil remains vice chancellor and finance minister. An end to the coalition has not been reported.
Bärbel Bas gave up all her offices on Monday morning: that of federal labor minister and the SPD chair, which she shared with Lars Klingbeil (Reuters, Tagesschau, Der Spiegel, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Handelsblatt, Die Zeit). She cites the death of her stepdaughter and public attacks on her, including from the coalition partner (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Die Zeit). “Today a chapter ends for me, but not the story,” her statement says (Die Zeit). She said she cannot find the strength to carry on at the moment (FAZ, Handelsblatt).
Her successor at the ministry is to be Alexander Schweitzer, the former minister-president of Rhineland-Palatinate (n-tv, Der Spiegel, Tagesschau, T-Online). According to Handelsblatt and Die Zeit, he is to be appointed today, Tuesday, and receive his certificate of appointment. Klingbeil promised that the new minister would hit the ground running and that the pension reform would stay on schedule (Handelsblatt). Die Zeit writes that Bas is leaving her successor a large reform package.
Klingbeil, who is vice chancellor and federal finance minister, wants to have the SPD leadership re-elected at an early party conference at the turn of the year (Der Spiegel, Die Zeit). He wants to stay in both government posts even if he gave up the chair; whether he will run again he left open (Der Spiegel, Die Zeit). Defense Minister Boris Pistorius dodged the question of his own ambitions for the party leadership (Der Spiegel, Handelsblatt). Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Minister-President Manuela Schwesig said coalition talks took priority (Handelsblatt). Klingbeil cancelled a trip to India because of the turmoil in Berlin (Reuters).
Klingbeil lamented a “poisoned” climate in federal politics that “breaks people” (Die Zeit, Handelsblatt) and criticized the CDU (T-Online). Handelsblatt writes that digs from the Union are said to have led to the resignation; so far this is supported only by Bas’s statement and the paper’s assessment. Commentaries in Der Spiegel and Tagesschau ask whether conduct in politics has become too unforgiving, and urge the Union and the SPD to pull themselves together.
For the Union the resignation comes at a delicate moment: the CDU Presidium met in retreat on Monday to discuss the party’s slump (Der Spiegel, Handelsblatt). Handelsblatt sees the coalition shaken and Klingbeil at risk.
It is open who will lead the SPD in future, when the party conference will take place and whether the coalition will present the pension reform as promised. Schweitzer’s appointment follows today; after that it will become clear whether he takes up the reform package as Klingbeil promises.