He has been at the head of the Thuringian SPD for four years - now Georg Maier is supposed to keep the SPD as the top candidate in the government. There was a fight for the places behind him.
Erfurt - Interior Minister Georg Maier is supposed to lead the SPD into the state elections in September and keep it in government. The 56-year-old was elected the Social Democrats' top candidate at a state delegates' conference in Erfurt on Saturday with 84.8 percent of the votes cast - abstentions are excluded by the SPD. Maier reaffirmed the SPD's claim to government and announced that he wanted to place more emphasis on social policy. There were candidacies for several candidate positions behind Maier.
Goal: Member of a majority government
Maier has been Interior Minister in the red-red-green state government since 2017 and has been state chairman of the SPD since 2020, which is currently polling at values between six and nine percent. According to the survey results so far, with a strong AfD and the CDU and the Left behind it, difficult majorities are expected after the state elections on September 1st. “We want to help ensure that Thuringia gets a democratic majority government,” said Maier.
The Social Democrats, who have been part of the red-red-green government coalition since 2014, are open to talks with all parties except the AfD. “With the SPD, there will be no state government that will work with the AfD in any way,” said Maier. As a guest speaker, Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius emphasized that the SPD had always taken responsibility for the people and the state when it was important. He already offered support in the Thuringian local election campaign.
Finance Minister is narrowly defeated in her candidacy
There was a scramble for a number of promising places on the SPD's state list. The state parliament member and health politician Cornelia Klisch and the long-time finance minister Heike Taubert competed for the place directly behind Maier. Taubert narrowly lost with 93 votes to 98. The 65-year-old has to deal directly with AfD right-winger Björn Höcke in her constituency in Greiz - she was placed in twelfth place by the SPD board.
SPD parliamentary group leader Matthias Hey was elected third with 99.5 percent. Hey has been seriously ill for several months but wants to return to politics. Janine Merz, a member of the state parliament recommended by the board, came in fourth place against state parliament vice-president Diana Lehmann. In fifth place, deputy parliamentary group leader Lutz Liebscher was able to hold his own against state parliament member Denny Möller.
Christmas bonus proposed for pensioners
Maier suggested a one-off payment for people with low pensions. He could imagine a kind of Christmas bonus. The Swiss recently spoke out in favor of a 13th pension payment per year. This cannot be financed in Germany, but a first step can be taken with a one-off payment. The Thuringian SPD will campaign for this with the federal government, said Maier.
The SPD top candidate also proposed a new model to provide better financial security for caring relatives. “I can imagine a model project in Thuringia that is based on an example in Burgenland in Austria,” he said. In order to improve the situation of people who often forgo income from work to care for relatives, some kind of employment with the state should be examined. This would also include social security.
The SPD has been involved in four state governments in Thuringia since reunification - twice together with the CDU and twice together with the Left and the Greens. dpa