The lawmakers from the region have written a seven-page paper that reflects the mood within the party. Among other things, they call for a fairer distribution of the burdens of future reforms and criticize the planned tightening of sick leave rules. Party leaders Lars Klingbeil and Bärbel Bas are not directly attacked, but many of the demands contradict the SPD’s current course in the coalition.
The criticism of Friedrich Merz (CDU) is particularly clear. The authors write that many debates in recent months have lacked the necessary respect, especially from the Chancellor. This seriously damages the acceptance of politics. The planned abolition of the pension at 63 should not go ahead, the paper states.
The SPD parliamentary group says it has 14 lawmakers from the Ruhr region, 13 of them with direct mandates. If they vote as a bloc, no majority can be reached against their will. Meanwhile, the parliamentary leadership of the Union and SPD said that changes to the reform concept are not ruled out.
Source: Tagesschau
