“The SPD is losing its social democratic brand core”

The chairmen of the Berlin Jusos, Svenja Diedrich and Kari Lenke, have sharply criticized the course of the capital’s SPD. “The SPD is losing its social democratic brand core. Before that, we warned against entering the coalition with the CDU – and that is exactly what is happening now,” Diedrich told the Tagesspiegel on Monday.

She added: “The party is losing its social democratic profile. There is a lack of courageous decisions and courageous standing up for what we as a party should actually stand for. We view all of this with great concern.”

Constant annoyance: the actions of the Interior Senator

Lenke, who together with Diedrich almost a year ago became first female dual leadership of the Jusos was elected, linked the general criticism with a concrete example. “Recently, the group has been rather critical of the Strikes at state-owned daycare centers We, as the state party conference, also made a contrary decision on this. The loss of solidarity with the strikers was unnecessary,” explained Lenke.

A constant annoyance from the Juso’s point of view: the actions of Interior Senator Iris Spranger. Left-wing SPD circles keep saying that she pursues “CDU politics” and does not care about the decisions of her own party. On Thursday, Spranger presented a five-point plan for more deportations.

Diedrich commented: “It would be desirable for Ms Spranger not to rush ahead in public, but to stick to the party’s current resolutions. Her deportation plan is a clear violation of how we envision migration policy,” Diedrich explained. She added: “For us, this has nothing to do with social democratic politics.”

At the weekend, the Jusos met for the state delegate conference. They passed various initiatives relating to the policies of the capital city SPD. Among other things, the SPD is called upon to stop deportations to Afghanistan and to establish the State Center for Political Education from political influence to protect.