In a strong rebuke of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), former Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader Saskia Esken has urged her party to continue the fight against right-wing extremism.
Speaking at the SPD’s federal party convention in Berlin, Esken condemned the AfD’s presence in the German parliament, describing it as “the broadness with which the AfD now appears in parliament” as “even more bitter” than the party’s poor performance in the recent federal election.
The social democrat vowed that the SPD will continue to combat the AfD, emphasizing, “As long as the SPD exists, we will fight against these enemies of humanity and we will win this fight.” In this context, she welcomed the proposal for an initiative to examine the possibility of banning the AfD, which will be debated at the party convention on Sunday.
Esken also praised her “wonderful” successor, Bärbel Bas, whose biography as a self-made individual has inspired her. After weeks of debate over her person following the federal election, Esken had announced she would no longer run for the party leadership. Bas was elected as the new party leader on Friday evening with a resounding 95.0 percent of the vote.