Dirk Wiese, the SPD parliamentary director, warned during the debate about the future of SPD chairman and Federal Minister of Finance Lars Klingbeil against a separation of party and government duties. Wiese told the Rheinische Post that he has no support for such proposals. He added that the Greens had failed multiple times in this area. The separation of office and mandate would also lead, in consistent application, to current state chairpersons having to relinquish positions in state governments or colleagues having to resign their Bundestag mandate, according to the SPD parliamentary director. Resistance is growing within the SPD against a renewed candidacy by Klingbeil for the party chairmanship. Several working groups oppose the dual role of party chairman and Finance Minister in a motion submitted for the party convention in January.
Mixed
