Michael busch, coburg's district administrator and candidate for the state parliament, believes that the SPD has been strengthened by the members' vote: "we have struggled hard. That is democracy. It is the task of all of us as a party to draw strength from this now. We are the only party that has had the coalition agreement ratified by its members. That is crude." But the SPD should not stop there, he demands: "within the party, processes and structures also need to be questioned and changed. There can be no more 'business as usual' at any level. Right down to the local associations." Otherwise, the SPD must make sure that it communicates better what it achieves. "Also failures must be discussed and not tried to be sold as successes. Transparency is one of the most important tasks of members of a coalition. "
Busch had already made a strong case for government participation before the start of the member survey ("we district councils are used to working together in our communities in an objective manner for the good of our citizens."). At the same time, he had very clearly criticized the designated SPD chairwoman andrea nahles. But busch did not elaborate on this in his declaration on sunday. Instead, he praised what the coalition agreement promises for the municipalities, including the two billion euros in additional funding for social housing and the expansion of high-speed internet.
"Ernuchternd"
Dominik sauerteig, a city council member in coburg, has a very different view of the outcome of the members' vote, and he looks to the uk and the u.S.: "i'm fed up with having to answer urgent questions about the future by making insufficient compromises with the CDU/CSU. I therefore find the clear yes to the coalition very humiliating. In the end, the majority probably felt a mixture of the desire to implement indisputable negotiating successes, supposed responsibility for state policy and current poll ratings. But we need have no fears about the future if we finally take a lasting departure from the neoliberalism of the past 20 years and once again put people more clearly at the center of our policies. The success of bernie sanders in the U.S. And jeremy corbyn in the U.K. Shows that in important nations of the western world, the need for a credible social democratic protective power in a society marked by perversely unequal conditions is very great."
"Only insufficient hints"
Stefan sauerteig, chairman of the coburg branch of the SPD, is similarly critical: "i had hoped for a different, bolder and more self-confident outcome to the member vote. Particularly in the core social democratic areas, the compromises reached with the union were too wishy-washy for my liking. The most urgent questions of the future, such as the future of the economy, must be answered.B. The future of pensions, the socially just design of the labor market of the future, or the end of two-tier medicine are only insufficiently addressed in the coalition agreement in the form of suggestions, prescriptions or agreements on objectives. However, accepting the result of the members' vote is part of my basic democratic understanding. From my point of view, the path of member participation must now be further pursued and expanded, z.B. In the context of a primary election for the next party chairman or chairwomen. The outcome of the member vote with ca. 66% is certainly a little higher than expected. However, the level of approval is lower than in the last member vote. From this, I derive the clear demand of the grassroots to represent our core social democratic concerns much more self-confidently and to communicate them more intelligibly."
"Using impulses"
Carsten hollein, chairman of the district association, argues more along the lines of district administrator michael busch: "we can't leave the country to merkel, spahn and co. Alone". Left. It is also important for the coburg region and its workplaces that we have stable conditions."
However, the SPD must now be brought together again, political talents such as the federal juso chairman kevin kuhnert had to be involved. Kuhnert had campaigned nationwide against the groko and filled sales. Hollein: "I am proud of my SPD, which discussed the matter intensively in the days of the members' referendum and showed how democracy is lived. We have to make use of the impulses that have arisen and that new members bring with them. In the next time the SPD must clear the personnel questions and convert promises. But that's not all: we need a new direction and further discussions about how we want to live in the future. We must find answers to the questions of the future that go far beyond the short-term goals formulated in the coalition agreement. At a meeting of the coburg-kronach SPD subdistrict, we will discuss how to position ourselves in the region in terms of content and structure. Together with the coburg SPD town association, the coburg-land SPD district association is planning an event for new members to give them a chance to get involved and get involved."