With Dietmar Woidke as the top candidate, the Brandenburg SPD wants to win the state elections in the fall. In return, the head of government receives an unusually high level of support.
Falkensee - With the best result to date, Brandenburg's SPD has elected its party leader and Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke as the top candidate for the state elections in the fall. The 62-year-old received 122 votes during the list party conference on Saturday. Four delegates voted against him. There were no abstentions; according to the SPD, the result corresponded to 97 percent of the votes.
The head of government, who has been in office since 2013, is running in a state election for the third time. In 2019, he received less support in the election as the top candidate with 82.5 percent of the votes than in 2014 with almost 95 percent. The candidates up to number 87 on the state list were also confirmed on Saturday.
A new state parliament will be elected in Brandenburg on September 22nd. The SPD has ruled there since 1990 with changing partners, currently with the CDU and the Greens.
Woidke called for the defense of democracy. “We are determined to defend our democratic coexistence, our cosmopolitanism and our tolerance with everything at our disposal,” he said in his candidacy speech.
“Right-wing extremism, racism and xenophobia have already caused enough damage to this country over the last 34 years,” said Woidke. “Extremist slogans have never helped this country.” Social Democrats have a historic responsibility. “It was always social democrats who opposed fascists and right-wing extremists.”
Woidke was confident about the upcoming elections, in which, in his view, the SPD will remain the strongest force in the country. “We stand for everything that makes life in our country safer, that makes our society more stable and that makes life in Brandenburg more livable. We stand for everything that strengthens coexistence in our country and we are setting the course for our future,” said Woidke to applause from the delegates.
Woidke spoke out in favor of more support for families. “It is our families who need tax relief, not the upper ten thousand. They get along well even without relief.”
The SPD state leader also said that stability and security are poison for extremists of all stripes. “Stability and security form the framework and are the basic prerequisites for freedom. Freedom for everything that makes our lives worth living.”
During its party conference, the SPD also decided on its election program. The party wants to make the rent control more effective, increase the number of police officers to 9,000, increase funding for hospitals from 110 to 200 million euros per year and abolish parental contributions after daycare centers, including in daycare centers and after-school care centers.
CDU General Secretary Gordon Hoffmann accused Woidke of only looking in the rearview mirror. “The challenges of our time require us to look forward and not to wallow in memories of the supposedly good old days,” he said. Woidke lacked ideas to turn the population's frustration into confidence. He questioned whether Woidke really wanted to run for five years. dpa