The designated leader of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), Bärbel Bas, has criticized her party for favoring certain individuals in leadership positions. According to Bas, the party’s tendency to promote a select few has made it difficult for others to rise to the top, saying, “People who can’t express themselves as polished, who don’t dominate every meeting, are often overlooked, even though they could give a lot to a people’s party like ours.”
Bas, a former Bundestag president and current Minister of Labor in the government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz, will run for the SPD’s leadership position at the party’s convention in Berlin next week, alongside Lars Klingbeil. She has accused her party of being too distant from the daily lives of ordinary people and has called for the SPD to be more present in working-class communities. “We need to break down complex issues into something the average person on the street can understand” she said, emphasizing the importance of the party engaging with the criticism it faces.
Bas’ life story is often described as an rags-to-riches tale. She began an apprenticeship at the Duisburger Verkehrsgesellschaft at the age of 16, later becoming a department head at a health insurance company. Since 2009, she has been a member of the Bundestag. “I never had a master plan for my career, but I’ve always accepted new challenges as they came along” she said.
Bas has also defended the group of SPD MPs, including Rolf Mützenich and Ralf Stegner, who recently published a controversial paper calling for a different approach to Russia. She believes that such debates within the party should not be stifled, even if she does not share the group’s views. “I think it will be my task to moderate in such situations” she said.