In a strongly worded rebuke, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) accused North Rhine-Westphalia’s Minister-President Hendrik Wüst of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) of disregarding the state’s parliament in the wake of the crisis at Thyssenkrupp.
The SPD’s parliamentary group leader, Jochen Ott, criticized Wüst for his absence during a recent parliamentary session, where the fate of 11,000 jobs was being debated. According to Ott, Wüst had mentally written off Thyssenkrupp, showing no interest in the crisis and instead held a press conference in Berlin with Microsoft. This, Ott claimed, was a “disrespect to this parliament” and the thousands of affected employees.
In a stark comparison, Ott noted that former Minister-Presidents Johannes Rau and Hannelore Kraft would not have behaved in such a manner. He warned that the CDU and the Greens, who have been in power in the state, would ultimately fail in their promises, citing the SPD’s previous warnings of the consequences of inaction.