The SPD wants to vote on the coalition agreement this Saturday at a special party conference.

Despite considerable criticism, especially from the Young Socialists (Jusos) in the party, the acceptance of the agreement with the Greens and the FDP is considered certain.

The Social Democrats are the only one of the three coalition partners to have so far refrained from nominating staff for the future federal government.

Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz announced that this should not happen until after the party congress.

Peter Carstens

Political correspondent in Berlin

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Displeasure is sparked by unrealized demands by the party left, for example for a wealth tax, the abolition of private health insurance or an exit from nuclear participation. The former Juso boss Kevin Kühnert had raised the mood against the FDP at a federal congress of the organization last week and described, among other things, his failure in the building work group as the result of a "Kafkaesque situation" with the FDP participants. As one of five motions to the party congress, the request is on the agenda not to give the Ministry of Finance to the FDP. The reason given is: an “economically liberal German finance minister” represents a “systematic threat to the European idea and the green reconstruction of Europe”.In addition, the delegates are to vote on the abolition of the so-called head lump sum, a project that the SPD was unable to implement in the coalition agreement.

Due to the corona situation, the party congress will only take place digitally. About an hour is allotted for the discussion. The two party leaders Saskia Esken and Norbert Walter-Borjans will speak beforehand. Then Chancellor candidate Scholz should speak, and greetings will follow. The SPD leadership has planned a total of two and a half hours for the party congress.

The party wants to hold an ordinary federal party conference in the coming week.

This was originally supposed to take place as a face-to-face party conference, but it has now been canceled and the digital conference has been shortened.

Indiscretions about the office of the future general secretary are causing displeasure in the run-up to the special party conference after several media reports that Kühnert, who was the favorite, would take over the office.

In the past few weeks, the party leadership had been proud that confidential matters had remained confidential.

Just as it was used as proof of unity, there are now concerns about the cohesion under the conditions of the chancellorship of Olaf Scholz, who has long been unloved in the party.