Potsdam’s Klara Geywitz (43) has been the deputy chairwoman of the SPD since December. Previously, the longtime MP in the Brandenburg state parliament, together with her partner Olaf Scholz, had lost the membership decision about the SPD leadership against Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter-Borjans.
Ms. Geywitz, how long will the grand coalition in the federal government last if the SPD has it?
The next federal elections are planned for autumn 2021. Society faces new challenges that the grand coalition must address. This includes a significant increase in investments and the minimum wage. We will now negotiate this with the CDU and CSU.
The new chairmen, especially Saskia Esken, had sharply criticized the grand coalition before their election. Is that no longer the case?
The party congress, with the votes of the new chairmen, found that the SPD’s balance sheet in the grand coalition is good. Many social-democratic projects have been launched, such as more support for families, higher student loans or the minimum training allowance for trainees. It is absolutely right that the two chairpersons always point out that we have broader goals that cannot be achieved with the Union, and that therefore go beyond this government alliance.
According to recent surveys the SPD cannot grow among the new chairmen. What’s going wrong?
Nobody expected the whole world to change because the SPD members elected two new chairpersons. The problems of the SPD did not arise overnight. It was clear to everyone that it will take time for us to regain our old strength. However, we are now well positioned in terms of content.
Who is actually the German finance minister – Olaf Scholz or Norbert Walter-Borjans?
Olaf Scholz.
Sure, but demands such as higher pension contributions for high earners, a new tax on the increase in the value of land or the deletion of all exceptions for company inheritance can only be heard from Walter-Borjans, not from Scholz …
These are resolutions of the party congress to which the chairman refers. The SPD members have just chosen Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter-Borjans because they want the new chairmen to act more independently of the government.
How does the new SPD leadership want to bring the party forward again??
The content this year is about more investments, better climate protection, good work and democratic digitalization. I mean, the new team at the head of the SPD should be given a hundred days to get used to it. I find the malice with which some journalists meet the new chairpersons strange.
Where do you think this malice comes from?
As a woman in politics, I react sensitively to the fact that women are measured by different standards than men. I observe that Saskia Esken in particular is subjected to very harsh and malicious criticism. Because she is a woman, she is judged more negatively in the media than Norbert Walter-Borjans. That’s unfair.
A group proposal “More women in the German Bundestag” was negotiated in the Bundestag on Thursday. Are you in favor of the Bundestag becoming more female – and bringing as many women and men into the national German parliament?
It is very surprising that a hundred years after the introduction of the right to vote, the proportion of women in German parliaments is still significantly lower than in the population. The proportion even drops. Many other European countries have laws that counteract them. I worked very hard to ensure that we in Brandenburg passed a Parité law with quoted lists of elections. But there are other models that promote women. Unfortunately, the Union is blocking itself and is at best willing to make non-binding recommendations – but it does not help anyone.
The prime minister of your state, Dietmar Woidke, can imagine a large coalition in the federal government even after the next regular election in 2021. They also?
Democratic parties must always be able to form a government together. That is why the Union is theoretically a partner even after autumn 2021. But I don’t think that the Union can practically be a coalition partner for the SPD. We cannot implement many important projects with the Union. The great challenges that lie ahead can only be met with a more progressive, dynamic government than a grand coalition.
–
