For several weeks, the SPD party leadership negotiated behind closed doors with representatives of the Greens and FDP about the traffic light coalition agreement.

Now the party opens the doors - and has to explain, sell, and yes, justify the results.

Because the political calendar wants the Juso Federal Congress, the annual meeting of the young socialists, to take place a few days after the presentation of the contract.

On Friday and Saturday, the young SPD members will discuss in a sports hall in Frankfurt.

Mona Jaeger

Deputy Editor in Charge of News and Politics Online.

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The Jusos are latently dissatisfied with everything the mother party does. The young people, actually easily enthusiastic, are extremely critical and demanding when it comes to their own association. It's always been like that. Are you proud that Olaf Scholz, an SPD politician, will soon be Chancellor? After many, many contributions, a speaker once said that. But otherwise the tenor was: We have achieved a lot, but much is not enough for us!

On Friday afternoon, Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil were given the task of adjusting this picture from their point of view. The two want to be elected party leaders at the beginning of December; Esken is stepping back, Klingbeil is currently still Secretary General. Esken is seen by many on the grassroots as her representative because she represents a left wing program. But this time she couldn't inspire the slightly enthusiastic Jusos with her speech. She expressed concern about the Corona situation, did not rule out a general vaccination requirement and criticized the communication from the still executive Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn from the CDU. He confuses the citizens. Esken says she is proud of the Jusos, the election victory is also a "blatant success" for them.

Klingbeil wouldn't contradict that. He was once a stubborn young socialist himself. But that was a long time ago. Today he is a professional pragmatist. He wants a "social democratic decade". Unlike the Jusos, he doesn't primarily mean a programmatic claim, but pure power. Olaf Scholz's chancellorship should not end after four years.

He told the Jusos with a fine smile what he expected of them. 49 federal representatives belong to the youth association. But these did not form a “Juso AG” in the parliamentary group, said Klingbeil. “We are a parliamentary group.” This is directed against all those who consider the 49 to be Kevin Kühnert's troops, the former Juso chairman and current member of the Bundestag. Klingbeil expects loyalty and solidarity. The Jusos don't seem to trust their own people that much either. One delegate rightly stated: "The Jusos in the Bundestag are getting older by the minute."

The youth association is sticking to it: "We haven't achieved everything yet," said one delegate. The Juso chairwoman Jessica Rosenthal was able to achieve a success in the coalition negotiations: the training guarantee for young people. It has been a core requirement of the Jusos for many years.

But the joy of it is limited.

Because there is still the FDP.

Without a doubt, most of the young people would have wished for a coalition with the Greens and the Left Party.

However, the Jusos do not dare to hit the FDP too hard, after all, Scholz promises a coalition on equal terms.

But the cultural rapprochement has not really reached the grassroots level yet, that is noticeable.

A young man from North Rhine-Westphalia complains that companies can continue to relocate or close, even if the employees are against it.

The Juso chairwoman Rosenthal promised Klingbeil and Esken on Friday that she would continue to send them annoyed SMS.

“You will get the surplus of ideas from us.

You just have to implement it. "