Following the SPD’s defeat in Rhineland‑Palatinate, the Jusos have demanded consequences within the federal party.
Philipp Türmer, the chairman of the SPD’s youth wing, told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland that the election outcome is a “disaster for the entire SPD”. He said the party leadership has so far failed to provide adequate answers. “The leaders are doing government work, but there is no sense of renewal or a convincing narrative for the SPD at all. Clear reactions are now required if we don’t want to watch the party’s decline passively”.
Türmer left the exact nature of those consequences open, suggesting that substantive, structural and personnel changes may be necessary. “Those who are unwilling to fundamentally change in this situation are part of the problem themselves. We need a breakthrough, not the management of decline” he added. He stressed that the party’s problem is larger than a single state or a single poll.
SPD foreign‑policy spokesperson Ralf Stegner also urged the party to reconsider its course after the lost state election. “This is a shocking result, part of a negative trend for the SPD. No one has a ready recipe, and punditry is useless at 18:01 on election night” Stegner told the Rheinische Post. “At the same time, in an existential crisis, ‘carry on’ is simply not an option”.
SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil has already admitted that the federal SPD bears the main responsibility for the result. “We now have to clarify some very decisive matters” he said on ARD. He also wants to steer the current reform debates from scratch.