A mood of optimism, finally again, the SPD had hoped for from its chairman casting. The base should have as much as possible a say, their desired tip. But the bottom line was that the whole procedure was very lengthy. Almost five months have passed since the resignation of Andrea Nahles on 2 June, and finally the Social Democrats are finally dragging their way to the finish line.
In the evening, the result of the runoff election will be announced: Will Olaf Scholz , Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor, and the Brandenburg Parliamentarian Klara Geywitz run the party in the future? Or the member of the German Bundestag Saskia Esken and former NRW Minister of Finance Norbert Walter-Borjans ? The answer does not only decide about the course of the SPD. Maybe the fate of the Grand Coalition depends on it.
Michele Tantussi / EPA-EFE / REX
SPD candidates Scholz, Geywitz, Walter Borjans, Esken
Exciting are also the next days and the party congress next weekend, which still has to elect the new top duo officially. The SPD is worried about splitting the party, and the Union hopes to continue the black-red coalition. Or is there only breakage instead of departure?
My colleagues Christian Teevs, Christoph Hickmann and Veit Medick will analyze and comment on the result of the member vote.
- Psychology in politics: This is how a dual point works
Left tours at the right
Odd Andersen / AFP
AfD boss Gauland
It's terrifyingly good for the AfD, taking the recent election results as a benchmark. Well over 20 percent in Thuringia, Saxony and Brandenburg, the second strongest force in all three countries. Best conditions for a quiet party convention. But that's not how it works with the AfD.
If the right-wing populists meet in Braunschweig this weekend, then turbulence is once again to be expected. Board elections are pending, and a whole range of more or less radical leaders feel called upon to lead the AfD in the future. There are, among others:
- Tino Chrupalla, 44, member of parliament from Saxony, who recently accused the Chancellor in the Bundestag that she once learned from the FDJ "how to keep a people at bay with propaganda and agitation".
- Gottfried Curio, 59, Member of Parliament from Berlin, who is celebrated on the Internet by AfD supporters for his sharpening speeches. Fully veiled Muslim women he called a "black bag, a bag that speaks". Mass immigration is for him "knife immigration".
- Wolfgang Gedeon, 72, Member of Parliament in Baden-Württemberg, against which anti-Semitic writings still run a party exclusion (!). In his application letter, he calls for a "final stroke" of the German approach to the past.
They all want to inherit Alexander Gauland , 78, who would like to withdraw from the party leadership. He had reluctantly taken over that anyway, now Gauland would rather be only honorary chairman. But he has already indicated: If the power struggle escalates to his successor in Brunswick, he might be ready again.
But Gauland himself went to the party condemned. Because according to SPIEGEL information, there is a new party donation affair in the AfD. And unlike the previous scandals, today's party chairman is also affected, he should have known about the dubious practices. It's about conspicuously pieced donations, possible straw donations and a black box for the election campaign - all from the early years, when the AfD was still the anti-Euro party. If the Bundestag administration finds violations of the party law, the AfD threatens once again high fines.
Beyond the election results, it does not go so well for the right wing squad. The party congress will prove this impressively. My colleagues Ann-Katrin Müller and Severin Weiland report.
- Black box office at the AfD: "pieced as desired"
SPIEGEL Update: News to Listen
- Subscribe to
- Apple podcasts
- Google podcasts
- Spotify
- Deezer
- Alexa
- RSS
More info
Terror in London
Ben Stansall / AFP
Special police forces deployed in London
Once again, London Bridge becomes a crime scene: just over two years after terrorists targeted passers-by using a van, a 28-year-old man on a bridge attacked people with a knife on Friday. Two died, three were injured, the police shot the assassin. The man was known as an extremist and was already in prison for sixteen years for terrorist activities - he was released prematurely in December 2018.
A little later, a knife attack in a shopping street is reported from The Hague, the backgrounds are still unknown. Either way, the fear of terror is back in Europe's cities, right at the beginning of the Christmas season. As rational and hardened as many of us may have come up against attacks, we can not ignore this anxiety, or in a milder form, worry. Who has not ever thought: It could happen anywhere, here and now.
Precisely because fear is the creeping poison that the terrorists want to scatter, we have to learn again and again to deal with it. Yes, there will be attacks again, but should not we visit Christmas markets, concerts, football matches? Afraid that the next terrorist might strike there? Then those who despise our liberal society would have won.
Loser of the day ...
Bertrand Guay / AFP
NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg, President Macron
... ... is NATO. This can be a nice party when Allianz celebrates its 70th birthday next week. Donald Trump considers NATO obsolete, Emmanuel Macron diagnoses her brain death, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan advises the French president: "First, check your brain death." In Paris, they then order the Turkish ambassador. As party mood comes on.
The compact news overview in the morning: current and opinionated. Every morning (weekdays) at 6 o'clock. Order directly here:
The latest news from the night
- Impeachment hearing: Trump will have to decide on his strategy until next week
- Knife attack in The Hague: Injured have left hospital
- Victory against Union Berlin: Schalke turn on after the break and is now second
The SPIEGEL + recommendations for today
- "This country is ruled by idiots": How the AfD makes mood with a false quote
- Siemens vs. ABB: Does Twitter King Kaeser copy ideas from competitors?
- Germany-wide abuse network: Some should have brought their own children
- Sociologist Eva Illouz on the Feast of Love: Why are so many couples divorcing after Christmas?
- Runner about her torment on the Nike Oregon Project: "I had suicidal thoughts and started scratching myself"
I wish you a nice start to the day.
Yours, Philipp Wittrock
