Kühnert and Lang get out
“My compassion is limited”
08.10.2024Reading time: 3 min.
Health reasons lead Kevin Kühnert to end his political career. In addition to regret, some also expressed joy at his resignation.
The news that Kevin Kühnert is resigning from his position as general secretary of the SPD for health reasons surprised political Berlin. Many comrades and fellow politicians expressed gratitude for the cooperation and their wishes for recovery, including party leaders Lars Klingbeil and Saskia Esken as well as Green Party politician Ricarda Lang, who also recently resigned.
The t-online readers are also moved by Kevin Kühnert’s withdrawal. In addition to many wishes for improvement, there are also plenty of letters expressing joy about the politician’s departure.
Klaus Aichele writes: “From a human point of view, one can feel sorry for Mr. Kühnert, as can Ms. Lang. But their resignations are certainly not a loss for politics and society. Neither of them have completed training, but they have the quality of being a senior teacher. I wish both of them the best of luck within the scope of their abilities, but please no longer in politics.”
“I wish Kevin Kühnert all the best,” says Hans-Peter Buhs. “It’s a shame he’s leaving. He’s someone we could have used for the next few years.” The t-online reader believes that “the whole drama” within the traffic light government was the 35-year-old’s “doom.”
Also Karl Gerlinger thinks a lot of Kevin Kühnert: “For me, Kühnert was, along with Chairman Klingbeil, one of the best politicians on the SPD executive board. When he said something, it always had meaning. It will be difficult to find such a committed general secretary for the SPD I wish Mr. Kühnert all the best for the future.”
Kerstin Mischke emailed: “Even if any resignation for health reasons can be regrettable, my sympathy for Lang and Kühnert is limited. Two no longer very young people who have no training or significant experience in business are giving up. At the same time, they are financially stressed “They were on a soft bed and, despite their lack of training, over the years of their party careers they received many times more money than they would have received in the private sector – including later pension entitlements, which remain untouched.”
Video | Lars Klingbeil and Saskia Esken comment on Kevin Kühnert’s resignation
The t-online reader and her husband have been self-employed for 25 years and their company has to deal with the consequences of the “unspeakable” (economic) policy of the traffic light, to which Kühnert and Lang belong. “We can’t give up. This option doesn’t exist for us – no matter what our health is like, whether we need rest or what’s going on with our family. We have to move on and have a responsibility to our employees and customers.”
Winfried Dutkowski believes that all young politicians have failed so far and, in addition to Lang and Kühnert, also mentions the names of Philipp Rösler, former FDP federal health and later finance minister, and CDU man Philipp Amthor. “The established parties have a responsibility not to burn out their political heirs, but to integrate them moderately into politics. They should give them tasks that they are up to and not ones that seem attractive to them as small, big-time people.”
If the parties do not live up to this responsibility, there will soon be no more young people to follow the “old men and women”, the t-online reader suspects. “That’s the sad thing about Kühnert’s decision, even if it is so happy in terms of domestic politics.”