At a time when, for the first time in democracy, a far-right leader can assume the leadership of the Government of Austria, the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, opened his speech at the federal congress of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) by warning of the danger that This means for democracy and he appealed to the German electorate to go to the polls on February 23 aware of what is at stake. “If on February 23 we take a wrong turn in Germany, the next morning we will wake up in a different country. “That must not happen,” the SPD leader warned before the 600 delegates gathered this Saturday in west Berlin, who officially confirmed him as their candidate in the next general elections.
Scholz, who had a video with messages of support among which was Pedro Sánchez, described the world situation as “damn serious.” “Right-wing populists sit in more and more governments and dream of using the chainsaw against democracy and the welfare state. The German people need a political force to defend them and we are that political force,” he added, with his sights set on the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), second in voting intention (21%), behind the conservatives. (30%) and ahead of the SPD (14%), according to the latest polls.
In his opinion, in order to be able to face these “very, very difficult times”, and the great challenges that Germany faces such as the crisis in industry – the backbone of the German economy – it is necessary to work side by side. “Today there are forces that have made incitement and division their business model. The SPD is opposed to this. Not against each other, but with each other, that should be the motto. “That’s what we do, that’s what we stand for,” he declared.
With an especially combative tone, the social democratic leader not only referred to the danger of the extreme right, but also reiterated his warnings to the United States about the inviolability of borders and insisted that Ukraine will continue to have the support of Germany. “If Putin gets his way by using force to push back the borders, then the security of Europe as a whole is in serious danger,” he warned under the watchful eye of the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Oleksii Makeiew, invited to the congress.
The country is going through an economic recession and a large part of voters fear social cuts. Aware of this, Scholz attacked the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), which he claimed do not have the capacity to address Germany’s current problems. “Now is not the time for slogans. “Now is not the time for ancient recipes,” he said. “This is not the time to do politics at the expense of ordinary people.” In his opinion, what we are talking about now is fair wages, such as a minimum wage of 15 euros per hour, and stable pensions for “normal people, who work the most in Germany.”
The SPD is in low hours. In the latest survey carried out by the German public broadcaster ZDF, it even fell to fourth position behind the Greens. The dissolution of the coalition government between social democrats, greens and liberals has dented the trust of Germans in their politicians. “Maybe I should have slammed the table earlier,” he admitted. “Perhaps I should have ended the coalition earlier, at the latest when it became clear last summer that the FDP no longer wanted to be constructive.”
Despite the gloomy outlook, delegates were unusually optimistic. “I think this is a very good basis for entering the election campaign,” said Anna Köbberling, SPD member of the Rhineland-Palatinate Parliament, during a lunch break after Scholz’s speech.
“The polls can still change,” he says. “Christmas has just passed and it is a time when people are less interested in politics.” “Now the electoral campaign really begins, it becomes real,” he adds. In his opinion, the next six weeks will be “enough time” to rise in the polls. For her part, Katrin Rehak-Nitsche, a member of parliament also in Rhineland-Palatinate, believes that despite Scholz’s negative evaluations in the polls, he is the right one. “We can all see what is happening in the world and I think he is exactly the type of personality we need at the head of a state that has so much responsibility for so many people.”
However, the two SPD delegates acknowledge being concerned about the rise of the extreme right and the support of Elon Musk. “What Musk is doing is deeply undemocratic,” says Köbberling. “The world is so complex that people look for simple answers, but they don’t exist,” he points out.
In an attempt to increase its presence on social media and reach part of the electorate not reached through traditional channels, the SPD installed a TikTok and Instagram live channel in the federal congress. “I think Scholz has made it very clear that we are responding to the social issues of our time, especially when it comes to housing,” explains Reka Molnar, SPD candidate for the Bavarian town of Rosenheim, while waiting to enter TikTok. .
The 24-year-old doesn’t see the polls as definitive either. “The elections will be decided on February 23.” “There is still enough time to turn the polls around,” he says. Meanwhile, Marvin Kliem, a member of the SPD in Bavaria, points out that there are still people who have not decided who they are going to vote for, although he recognizes the difficulty in reaching young people. “Many more radical parties simply understand much better with their simple answers,” he explains, pointing out the importance of making it clear to them that “the simplest solution is not the best solution at the end of the day.”
