Despite the current poll numbers, SPD Chairman Lars Klingbeil is aiming to win the election and make the SPD the strongest force in the Bundestag in just over two months. “We want to win the election” Klingbeil told the “Tagesspiegel” (Friday edition).
When asked if he could sleep well at night under a Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) government, Klingbeil replied, “I’m only concerned with how I can get the SPD to first place.”
He downplayed the poll numbers, which show the SPD at around 15%. The voters are just starting to focus on the election, he said. “I expect we’ll make up ground in the polls in January. We’ll achieve an election result on February 23, 2025, that’s much better than it seems now.” The dynamics will “emerge shortly before the election.” The current situation is still heavily influenced by the look back at the infighting in the coalition, he added.
The election campaign is just beginning, and he’s looking forward to it, Klingbeil said. “Don’t underestimate the fighting spirit of the SPD” he said, indirectly giving a target of more than 20% of the vote. CDU Chairman Merz recently said he expects the SPD to get around 20% plus x of the vote at the February 23, 2025, election, Klingbeil said. “That’s the first time in the last few weeks I thought: Friedrich Merz is right this time.”
Klingbeil dismissed the question of why the SPD is fielding the unpopular Olaf Scholz instead of the popular Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. “Olaf Scholz has the experience and the nerve of steel that a chancellor needs” he said. “And I’d like to remind you again: Boris Pistorius has made it clear he’s not a candidate.” He wants the next federal chancellor to be a social democrat, “and we’re campaigning for votes.”
Klingbeil also spoke out in favor of the SPD regaining power after the election. “I want to always govern, not write papers for the waste bin as an opposition member” the party chairman said. While he generally considers a renewed SPD-led government with the Greens and FDP possible, he finds it unlikely. “Democrats must always be able to work together, but I lack the imagination to conclude a reliable agreement with Christian Lindner” Klingbeil said. The Ampel coalition, formed at the end of 2021, broke up in November when the FDP left the government.