Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) has rejected the announcement by CDU leader Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to put the ground rent because of the unclear situation of the coalition on ice. "We did not negotiate the ground rent for GroKo, but for those who urgently need the ground rent," Schwesig told SPIEGEL. "Therefore, the threat of Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer is indecent."
Schwesig further: The union had the Grundrente "blocked long enough". Now she has to come too. There are "even the countries that can go ahead," said the SPD politician.
CDU leader Kramp-Karrenbauer had previously tied the implementation of the basic pension to the fate of the coalition. "In terms of the basic pension, we said that we will only enter the parliamentary process when it is clear that this coalition will continue," she told TV channels RTL and n-tv.
In November, after long struggles, the Grand Coalition had agreed that people with small pensions and with at least 35 years of contributions should receive a pension supplement from January 2021 - after a comprehensive income test. So far, only corner points to the basic pension are available. The CDU had emphasized at the party congress in Leipzig to stick to the compromise with the SPD.
Kramp-Karrenbauer said that after the SPD member vote for Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter-Borjans, a shift to the left of the SPD was "clearly recognizable". However, this could "in no way mean a left shift of the coalition," said the CDU chairman. Esken had called the ground rent as an example of what was possible if the SPD prevailed.
Juso boss Kevin Kühnert accused Kramp-Karrenbauer, she understood political compromises only as a marshalling yard of party interests. "Obviously the respect applies but only as long as the SPD does not interfere with the operation," Kühnert wrote on Twitter.
Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) said: "I work with full force for the basic pension - as agreed - to come to January 1, 2021." With good will that will succeed.
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