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Lars Klingbeil, Saskia Esken (in September): The co-boss apparently wants to decide shortly whether to run again
Photo: via www.imago-images.de / imago images / Political-Moments
The SPD is expected to make a preliminary decision on the party chairmanship next Monday.
The party executive would then decide on a personnel proposal for the dual leadership, the news agency Reuters learned from party circles.
This was agreed in a switching conference of the board in the evening.
Co-party leader Saskia Esken said she wanted to decide by then whether to run again. In the party, it is firmly expected that General Secretary Lars Klingbeil will take over the chairmanship of the party. According to participants, Klingbeil did not get involved in the switch on the topic. In conversation as a female co-party leader is also Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Prime Minister, Manuela Schwesig.
The new election of the party leadership is due to take place at a regular federal party conference on the second weekend in December.
Co-party leader Norbert Walter-Borjans does not run again.
His place is likely to be taken by the 43-year-old Klingbeil, who is considered a pragmatist, but also maintains a close relationship of trust with party members like party leader Kevin Kühnert.
Several representatives of the SPD leadership had told Reuters that they were firmly assuming that Klingbeil would be a candidate.
Special party conference for the traffic light alliance
The party executive also unanimously decided that just under a week before the regular party conference, a short and mostly digital special party conference on December 4th should decide on the coalition agreement with the Greens and the FDP to form a federal government.
The special party conference should take place as a mix of presence and digital participation in the morning from 11 a.m.
In the following week, the Bundestag is to elect the SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz as Chancellor, if the members of the Greens and a party congress of the FDP have approved the traffic light alliance beforehand.
Coalition negotiations are currently ongoing at the level of 22 working groups.
They should submit their results by November 10th.
After that, negotiating mainly a top round.
The SPD had its members decide by ballot about the coalition agreements with the CDU and CSU in 2013 and 2018 to form the highly controversial grand coalition within the party.
However, the process is costly and time-consuming than a special party conference, which is now to take place predominantly digitally.
wal / Reuters