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Matthias Miersch
Photo: Political Moments / IMAGO
Power struggle among the party left in the SPD: On Tuesday, the 90 members of the Parliamentary Left (PL) in the Bundestag faction will elect their new board. According to SPIEGEL information, eight members of parliament are running for leadership of the movement.
In addition to the previous speakers Matthias Miersch and Wiebke Esdar as well as treasurer Elisabeth Kaiser, five other PL members will take part. In an email from PL, which SPIEGEL has received, Hakan Demir, Jan Dieren, Annika Klose, Tim Klüssendorf and Carmen Wegge are named as new candidates. Current speaker Sönke Rix will therefore not run again.
There is talk in the party of an attack on Miersch. Dissatisfaction with the course of the deputy group leader has increased significantly. While the conservative Seeheimer Kreis is aggressively promoting its new strength, the PL has shrunk in this legislative period. The current has become calmer.
Some party leftists think: too calm. The loyalty to the parliamentary group leadership and to Chancellor Olaf Scholz is correct. But the visibility of the PL should not be left behind. It is said that Miersch has to be worn too often for hunting.
The challengers now pursued the “crowbar principle”. It is a “maximum attack” so that something can finally move in the PL.
Others in the stream emphasize that it is normal to have multiple candidates for the board. There were even calls to run for office.
It is also possible that the board will come to an agreement with the challengers by Tuesday and some will withdraw their candidacy. But if that doesn't happen, the calm in the PL could be over.