Another candidate duo: Raed Saleh is entering the race for Berlin SPD chairmanship with a new partner

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SPD state chairman Saleh: New candidate duo with Luise Lehmann

Photo: M. Popow / Metodi Popow / IMAGO

When the comrades vote on the future state chairmanship at their next state party conference on May 25th, they will have a wide range of choices: with the previous chairman Raed Saleh and his new partner Luise Lehmann, another team of candidates has now thrown their hat into the ring.

With a view to the heated, cross-border protests, Lehmann and Saleh have named the fight “for a vibrant, participatory democracy” as one of their goals. This is the only way to protect yourself from the threat of enemies of democracy, agitators and right-wing populists.

The candidate duo wants to “consolidate their party as a strong backbone of the city” and establish a “proud SPD”. »A party that is proud of its members, who actively shape our Berlin every day in various places, that is proud of what has already been achieved, but that also always knows what there is still to do and that is always confident, looks optimistically and full of energy into the future.«

Before Saleh and Lehmann, Jana Bertels and Kian Niroomand had already announced their intention to jointly chair the regional association in the future - as did Nicola Böcker-Giannini and Martin Hikel. This means that the Berlin SPD will hold a vote on the future state presidency. The SPD suffered heavy losses in the repeat election in Berlin.

Bertels and Niroomand criticize the “lack of acceptance of responsibility in recent years”

Bertels and Niroomand had barely concealed criticism of the previous party leadership - and therefore also of Saleh. "It's time to move away from the culture of unconditional retention of power and the lack of taking responsibility of the last few years," they said. They did not seek government office, but wanted to "get the SPD back on track with hard, honest work."

Saleh currently leads the Berlin SPD with Franziska Giffey. However, Giffey announced at the beginning of the year that he would not run again for the state chairmanship. The Giffey/Saleh duo has been at the head of the capital's SPD since November 2020. With Lehmann, Saleh has now chosen a relatively unknown figure within the party as her partner. It is assumed that he wants to score points with the young woman, especially with the Jusos.

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