So they still exist, the good news for the SPD. On Wednesday evening it was time again: the crisis-ridden party does not lose another hope, Family Minister Franziska Giffey may keep her doctorate. In case of a loss of the academic degree, the Social Democrat would have given up her post.
The presidium of the Free University of Berlin left it in the plagiarism scandal but a complaint. Although the dissertation contained deficiencies, these did not justify the withdrawal of the doctoral degree. (Read a comment on the procedure here.)
In the party the relief is great. He was enthusiastic about the decision, said the head of the conservative Seeheimer circle, Johannes Kahrs, the editorial network Germany. SPD vice chief Ralf Stegner added that he was happy for Giffey, "that this painful affair is finally over." And health expert Karl Lauterbach called Giffey on Twitter "one of our greatest talents". Giffey is urgently needed in the SPD "because she does a very good job".
Giffey enjoys broad support in the SPD
The comrades have a leadership and junior problem for years. Lack of support, the fragmentation of the party and a series of electoral defeats - most recently in Thuringia - have meant that the SPD has little hope left. Franziska Giffey, 41, is one of the few younger women to enjoy widespread support in the party, both in the right and in the left wing. She did not enter federal politics until the spring of 2018 and is still one of the favorites in Angela Merkel's GroKo-Kabinett.
For a candidacy Giffeys for the SPD presidency, the decision of the FU came too late - even if the Bundestag member Axel Schäfer in the "Süddeutsche Zeitung" promptly suggested that Klara Geywitz but renounce and Giffey could run with Olaf Scholz. However, this would lead the protracted procedure of the SPD to the search for a new party leadership ad absurdum and make the candidate to Scholz 'side as a decorative accessory. The proposal shows rather what some comrades would have for a women's image, it said in the party.
Giffey hastened to an end in Mainz to end the speculation. She had decided at the beginning of the process not to compete, the family minister said: "And at the present time of the procedure I can tell you, I will stick to this decision."
Effect beyond the party - but hardly rooted in the SPD
Her image as the party's bearer of hope had cracked during the month-long examination by the university. She herself repeatedly emphasized that she had written the work to the best of her knowledge and belief. Giffey seemed genuinely surprised by the allegations first published by the VroniPlag Internet platform.
Although Giffey had apparently flirted with a candidacy after Andrea Nahles' resignation as party leader in the summer, the current situation must not be a disadvantage for them. Although Giffey works beyond her party, she is hardly rooted in the SPD.
As chairman, she would have had to plunge into the depths of a troubled, deeply insecure organization, into confrontation with the party's various interest groups. Giffey's strengths lie in other fields, say party friends, in conversation with the citizen. It can translate what complex legal work means to the individual.
Will the SPD top candidate Giffey come to the next federal election?
This became apparent during her first summer trip as a minister, in August of last year. Giffey was a guest in Frankfurt am Main and gave a short speech on the square in front of the Historical Museum. "For all the citizens in the square, come on, this is for you!" Giffey shouted. "This is not a closed-shop event!" Whether normal citizens are there? "Wonderful," Giffey said as a few hands went up, "Come on a bit forward."
Her style is catching on, it seems authentic to many citizens, not snooty. She has a simple and clear language, when she talks, you hear out the Brandenburg impact. Giffey knows how to convey a sense of closeness to people - even when cameras record everything and journalists write eagerly. Not only in conversation with citizens, but also in front of an intellectual audience, it arrives.
Giffey has been traded in the SPD for some time as a possible successor to Berlin's Mayor Michael Müller. But even the big career jump does not seem completely outlandish. The party said that the presidential election was not necessarily a preliminary decision on the top candidate in the next federal election.
Giffey will also be given opportunities.
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