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🇩🇪 Germany /Elections & Politics

After Saxony-Anhalt election, SPD deputy leader calls for debate on reform agenda

From Die Zeit · () German

Translated from German and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire From a news agency Context piece
  • SPD deputy leader Alexander Schweitzer said the government should revisit its reform agenda after the AfD won the election in Saxony-Anhalt.
  • He called for renewed discussion of the planned pension-system overhaul, including whether it is fair to those who have earned benefits.
  • Schweitzer said the federal government bore a significant share of responsibility for the election result, but backed Lars Klingbeil and Bärbel Bas as SPD leaders.

Alexander Schweitzer says the AfD's victory in Saxony-Anhalt should prompt the German government to rethink its reform course. The SPD deputy leader said the planned overhaul of the pension system, in particular, needed to be discussed again.

It is completely clear that this reform must be debated.

· Alexander SchweitzerOn the need to revisit the planned pension-system reform after the election in Saxony-Anhalt.

"It is completely clear that this reform must be debated," Schweitzer said. He argued that the proposals from the pension commission should return to the agenda. The issue, he added, was not connected only to the election in Saxony-Anhalt.

There must be consideration, especially of the question: what is fair according to performance?

· Alexander SchweitzerOn whether the pension proposals provide fair treatment.

Schweitzer also said policymakers needed to consider what would count as fair treatment for people who had earned pension benefits. "There must be consideration, especially of the question: what is fair according to performance?" he said.

The federal government has no small share in the election outcome.

· Alexander SchweitzerOn the government's responsibility for the AfD's election victory.

The deputy SPD chairman, who also leads the SPD parliamentary group in Rhineland-Palatinate, said the federal government had "no small share" of responsibility for the election outcome. Asked whether Lars Klingbeil and Bärbel Bas remained the right people to lead the party, he answered: "They are."

They are.

· Alexander SchweitzerIn response to a question about whether Lars Klingbeil and Bärbel Bas remained the right SPD leaders.
About this summary

Originally published by Die Zeit in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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