The working group for Migration and Diversity within the SPD is calling for an extraordinary party conference this autumn in an effort to reshape the party’s leadership. According to discussions with Spiegel, the two chairs of the group, Mehria Ashuftah and Orkan Özdemir, stated that there is “massive irritation” among the populace regarding the German Social Democrats. They argue that this frustration has caused people to lose faith in the SPD as a viable political choice, a fact which is being reflected alarmingly in recent polling data. In view of what they describe as an “existential trend at the federal level,” an exceptional federal party meeting next autumn is deemed essential.
Ashuftah, who is an elected representative in the Hamburg state parliament, and Özdemir, who represents the SPD in the Berlin House of Representatives, see this special convention as an opportunity to reorganize the top leadership, currently held by Bärbel Bas and Lars Klingbeil.
The two politicians contend that both the SPD’s current management structure and the ideological direction of its leaders have “obviously failed.” They maintain that in the party’s current condition, combining the party chairmanship with a government office is no longer a viable option. They have frequently cited criticism that because Bas serves as the Minister of Labor and Klingbeil as the Finance Minister, they do not have sufficient time to focus on the party itself.
“The issue now is to save the Social Democracy. It is no longer about the fate of individual actors within the SPD,” explained Özdemir and Ashuftah. They have publicly urged the SPD’s state branches and its executive committee to initiate an extraordinary party convention scheduled for autumn 2026.
