German Chancellor Friedrich Merz failed his first confidence vote in the Bundestag: His partner, SPD leader and current Deputy Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, could not afford to lose the vote as Party chairman at the SPD Congress yesterday, but got a serious rebuke, gaining only 64.9% of the votes. The second chairman, former Bundestag head Bärbel Bas, got 95%. As parliament leader, Bas often criticized her own party for bypassing the Bundestag in its legislative functions.
“This is a terrible result,” former Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told Tagesspiegel newspaper, and adding: “I expected some no votes, but not this.” She was harsh in her criticism of the party conference delegates. “I am disappointed that many of them did not consider the impact on the SPD,” said Faeser.
Klingbeil’s bad result comes after the party left wing issued a manifesto, signed by prominent SPD politicians, which rejected the pro-war, Russophobic policy of Klingbeil. It is expected that the latter won’t learn the lesson and will prosecute his policy from his bunker.
