2024-09-22 19:43:45
Authentic, understandable, respected: Munich’s SPD mayor Reiter is full of praise for his party colleague, the defense minister – and criticizes Chancellor Scholz.
For Munich’s mayor Dieter Reiter (SPD), Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is “of course” a possible candidate for his party’s chancellor – and thus an alternative to Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “If someone like Boris Pistorius has such a reputation, the SPD must also think about whether he is the best choice for the chancellorship or whether to go with the incumbent chancellor,” Reiter told the “Tagesspiegel” (Tuesday). The decision on this, however, “lies with none other than Olaf Scholz himself,” he added. “And the initiative would then have to come from Olaf Scholz himself.”
He agrees with “99 percent” of the Chancellor’s decisions. “But my impression is that he always takes too long to make decisions and that he hardly explains his decisions at all,” said the Mayor. “If he needs time to think about things, that’s fine, but then he should communicate it openly.”
Reiter praised Pistorius for his “clear, understandable language”. “He decides, he explains, he has clear messages, he talks to the troops. He says what he thinks and he fights. That makes him authentic. With him, you know what he wants,” he explained. People look for such qualities in a chancellor.
“People want a chancellor who talks to them, who understands them, who knows what moves them, who is present.” When the Tagesschau shows “five Söder, six Merz and half a Scholz”, “often with a calm look and without saying anything”, this symbolism is “dangerous”, criticized Munich’s mayor. “Olaf Scholz urgently needs to change that.”
Reiter was much harsher in his criticism of SPD co-leader Saskia Esken and general secretary Kevin Kühnert. “Saskia Esken may have had merits in the past, but her bizarre appearances are piling up. Anyone who says on television that nothing can be learned from the deadly IS attack in Solingen should no longer be at the head of the SPD,” he said.
He accused Kühnert of being “satisfied” with the SPD’s recent election results in Saxony and Thuringia. “Such statements from Esken or Kühnert make me angry. This does not underline leadership strength, but rather creates the impression that the main thing is that we keep a few seats and I keep my job.”