SPD MP Ralf Stegner has announced that he will not vote for CDU leader Friedrich Merz as Chancellor. According to the “Handelsblatt”, Stegner said that the SPD will now intensify its election campaign for its goals, which include social cohesion through good work, secure pensions and affordable housing, peace and security and the defense of democracy. “This also means that we cannot and should not elect a man as Federal Chancellor who makes common cause with right-wing extremists” Stegner added. He views the poor opinion polls for his party with equanimity, saying, “Opinion polls are sometimes pleasing and sometimes less so.” However, the elections will be decided on February 23.
A similar statement was made by Dirk Wiese, the spokesperson for the conservative Seeheimer Circle in the SPD. “The final whistle is not in the 65th minute, but after 90 minutes” Wiese told the “Handelsblatt”. Many voters will only make up their minds in the coming days. Wiese spoke of the “content strengths” of the SPD, saying, “We stand for social cohesion and respect in society – in contrast to the Union, which opens the door to the AfD.”
Matthias Machnig, the vice president of the SPD’s economic forum, sees his party facing a personnel renewal after the election. “Regardless of how the election turns out, the SPD will have to make new, in-depth, cultural and personnel offers” Machnig told the “Handelsblatt”. “There cannot be a simple ‘business as usual’.” He advised the SPD to focus more strongly on the themes of economic development and social security, as these are at the top of the agenda for voters. “Here lie mobilization potential.” Voters want “a coalition of calculability, reliability and democratic stability.” Whoever can credibly represent this will, in his opinion, only decide on the last stretch.