German Social Democrats in free-fall Right-wing seeks to topple party chairman

This Tuesday, he appealed for the loyalty of the entire parliamentary (Bundestag) faction and stressed, What is clear is that I will fight. He continued, If I should be part of the problemI am not stuck to my post. This then was interpreted as a roundabout way of threatening his resignationa position Beck quickly denied. Once again, he said, he had been deliberately misinterpreted.

What is behind the dispute?

While the conflicts in the SPD are not new, they are now assuming increasingly antagonistic forms in a party that is suffering a severe loss of membership and a slump in popularity, according to opinion polls.

The decline in the fortunes of the SPD can be traced back to the anti-welfare, pro-business policies introduced by the former SPD-Green Party coalition led by ex-chancellor Gerhard Schroeder (SPD). His coalition (1998-2005) introduced the despised Agenda 2010 and Hartz IV laws, which have in a short time created a huge cheap-wage and precarious job market. Since then, opposition in the population has been growing against his reform agenda and its political godfatherthe SPD.