Matthias Miersch is to become the new general secretary of the SPD. In his inaugural speech, the Lower Saxon advocated a “differentiated view” of former Chancellor Schröder.
When he was introduced as acting general secretary of the SPD, Matthias Miersch also had words of praise for former chancellor Gerhard Schröder. When a reporter asked him about his dealings with Gerhard Schröder at a press conference on Tuesday in the Willy Brandt House in Berlin, Miersch advocated a “differentiated view” of the man who was Chancellor from 1998 to 2005.
“We’re at a point where as a society we don’t think too much in black and white,” Miersch said. He in no way shares Schröder’s positions on Putin, Ukraine and the Russian war of aggression and would like to see clearer words from the party in this regard, “but I also don’t want to hide the fact that as Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany he did a lot for this country “Miersch continued.
He praised Schröder’s foreign policy achievements in keeping Germany out of the Iraq war in 2003, but also emphasized the former Chancellor’s domestic policy achievements. “Things like an all-day school program or the Renewable Energy Act, all of these things came about under his chancellorship.” Miersch would like to continue to see “factual cooperation”.
Miersch belongs to the left wing of the party and is considered a proven expert on environmental policy. Experts have seen him as a candidate for high party office for years. So far, however, he has remained deputy parliamentary group leader and co-spokesman for the Parliamentary Left in the SPD.
The conservative “Seeheimer Circle” in the party, for which Miersch represents too much of the left wing of the party, is critical of his move to the post of general secretary.
Miersch’s role in the federal election campaign could be particularly important. The Lower Saxony is considered loyal to Chancellor Scholz and a confidant of party leader Klingbeil. It should be important for him to have a trustworthy comrade, Miersch, in the position of head of the election campaign.