The Association of Social Democratic Women has strongly criticized the attacks launched by the CDU against Manuela Schwesig, the Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Carmen Wegge, the federal chairwoman of the SPD’s women’s organization, told the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” that the Union harbors a “fear of strong SPD women like Schwesig.”
Wegge described this pattern as historical: when women assume positions of power, they are not addressed on a political level but are targeted with personal attacks. According to her, their competence is questioned, their demeanor is criticized, and their credibility is undermined. She highlighted a gender double standard, pointing out that for men, high leadership is viewed as strength, whereas for women, it is suddenly framed as a problem. The SPD politician further asserted that this was not an isolated incident but systemic sexism, but the women within the SPD refused to be diminished. For them, each attack served only to show how unsettled strong women made the Union.
These accusations came after CDU politicians sharply criticized Schwesig following her election campaign and dismissed her claims that the Union treated the late Bärbel Bas (SPD), a retiring labor minister, inhumanely after the death of her stepdaughter. Johannes Winkel, head of the Junior Union, specifically accused Schwesig, referencing her previous involvement in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, of being bought by Russia. In a statement to the “Deutschlandtag” of the Junior Union in Bonn, Winkel remarked that one certainly should not be lectured on decency and stance in German politics by Manuela Schwesig.
