Hernes Mayor Dudda: "Some politicians in Berlin have lost sight of people's lives"

Icon: enlarge

SPD politician Dudda

Photo: biky / imago images

SPIEGEL:

Mr. Dudda, in the last local election you were elected in the first ballot, and you have a good chance of being re-elected on Sunday.

Even though you're in the SPD.

What can the comrades in Düsseldorf and Berlin learn from you?  

Dudda:

People's trust is central.

We want to take the people who have worked industrially in Herne and the Ruhr area with us into the new age.

That is why we rely on climate-friendly industry.

You cannot replace the jobs that are declining with new services alone.

We have been successfully reducing long-term unemployment in Herne for years.

Every year it shrinks between 15 and 20 percent.

We have succeeded in realizing larger new settlements with us on a regular basis and thus try to improve people's lives in concrete terms.

SPIEGEL:

Do you miss this focus on economic and social policy on the agenda of your federal party? 

Dudda:

We don't chase after the topics of the zeitgeist, but focus on the people who live here.

How can we specifically change things under the conditions that we find?

There wouldn't be a detached police discussion here in Herne.

If there are grievances with the police, they are addressed, very specifically.

But there are no American conditions with our police, that's a heated debate. 

SPIEGEL:

You are referring to SPD leader Saskia Esken, who said there is "latent racism" among the German police. 

Dudda:

Our party leaders were both in Herne last week and I have come to appreciate them both.

You have a tough job, there is no other way to put it.

We talked about how some of their statements got down to earth with us.

And they listened.

It's good.

Both understood that things didn't always go perfectly in the past.

That's also because of Berlin. 

SPIEGEL:

What do you mean by that? 

Dudda:

The problems that are being discussed in Berlin are often very far removed from the reality of life for people in the Ruhr area.

Some of these are debates that you might find exciting in intellectual circles.  

"There wouldn't be a detached police discussion here in Herne"

SPIEGEL:

For example? 

Dudda:

In addition to the police criticism, for example, the debates about the traffic turnaround or the relationship with Russia.

Don't get me wrong, these are important political issues.

But we, who are currently responsible in the municipalities, are trying to save thousands of jobs in the corona crisis, for example in the travel or cultural industries.

What is happening in parallel in federal politics unfortunately has far too little to do with everyday life and the fears of the citizens in this exceptional situation.

The people hardly appear.

Sometimes I think as Lord Mayor that some politicians in Berlin have lost sight of people's lives. 

Icon: enlarge

Aerial view of Herne

Photo: Hans Blossey / imago images

SPIEGEL:

What does that do to people? 

Dudda:

You feel left alone.

But it is the classic task of social democrats to be there for the broader population.

And I do that here in Herne.

Herne is the city of normal people, that is our claim.  

SPIEGEL:

Olaf Scholz takes over the SPD candidate for chancellor.

Does the man from Hamburg who moved to Potsdam understand how things are going for you in Herne? 

Dudda: In the

past, our NRW-SPD, as the strongest state association, still had weight in the party as a whole.

That is now to be fought again.

Olaf Scholz comes from Hamburg, but he understands us here and knows the problematic situation in the Ruhr area.

With his demand that the federal government should partially take over old debts of the municipalities, he reached the hearts of the people.

By the way, very different from Markus Söder.

Although the Ruhr area supported Bavaria financially for decades through the state financial equalization scheme, the Bavarian Prime Minister is now refusing to help.

That is extremely lacking in solidarity.

Söder as a candidate for chancellor would have no chance here - and thus a gift for the SPD in the Ruhr area. 

SPIEGEL:

Critics of the old debt solution say that many municipalities, especially in the Ruhr area, would quickly be as highly indebted as before after a debt relief. 

Dudda:

That's not right.

Herne presented balanced budgets in 2018 and 2019, despite the high interest burden, refugee costs and high social spending.

Yes, we have accumulated a total of around one billion euros in debt in the past.

Today, however, we are in a completely different situation than we were ten years ago.

One thing is certain: the equivalence of living conditions is anchored in the Basic Law.

The Ruhr area is currently limited in its possibilities.

Incidentally, this also applies to large parts of eastern Germany.

There, too, there should be more help to establish equivalence in living conditions. 

"Söder as chancellor candidate would have no chance here - and thus a gift for the SPD in the Ruhr area"

SPIEGEL:

You are also the SPD's top candidate for the Ruhr Parliament.

What do you want to achieve there? 

Dudda:

We are 5.1 million people in a small area in the Ruhr area and therefore have more inhabitants than Berlin and Munich combined ... 

SPIEGEL:

….

rather similar many. 

Dudda:

I want to make it clear that we have a really unique urban area here with great potential.

This metropolitan area is fighting the wounds of industrial development.

In the Ruhr Parliament, strategies are to be developed for a catch-up process that will make the Ruhr area the greenest industrial region in Europe.

There is a regional director, four so-called councilors and over 450 employees.

We have been assigned regional economic development, for example.

On Sunday, 91 honorary MPs will be elected here for the first time. 

SPIEGEL:

In your city of Herne, you want to tear down a huge amount.

What are you up to? 

Dudda: The

other way around: We have to build a lot.

Because we want to regain national importance, for example by locating technology companies in selected niches on old industrial sites.

A university with 5,000 police students is also to come to Herne.

We shape our future.

And yes, that changes our cityscape and our thinking.

Icon: The mirror