SPD leftist Tim Klüssendorf: “The talks will be tough”

taz: Mr. Klüssendorf, congratulations on your direct mandate. The people of Lübeck voted for you with their first vote, and the CDU was ahead with the second vote. What did you do better than your party?

Tim Klüssendorf: It was certainly a personal choice. I have a certain home advantage in Lübeck, I was born and grew up there and have been very committed to constituency work over the last three years. And my result is actually significantly higher than the SPD's second vote result. As a party, we simply left too many issues undone during the election campaign that we really should have brought to the forefront.

taz: Which ones?

Klüssendorf: An example: free school lunches were in the election manifesto, but were not mentioned at all in the election campaign. The issue of redistribution was also only about income tax and unfortunately not about the highest assets and inheritances. Overall, we were far too bland. This prioritization was of course also related to the people involved.

taz: You mean Olaf Scholz ?

Klüssendorf: Also. In any case, it was pointless to engage in a competition to see who was the better deporter.

taz: After the historically poor performance, party leader Lars Klingbeil spoke of a turning point and of a programmatic and personnel reorganization of the SPD. And he wants to be elected parliamentary group leader on Wednesday. Were you surprised?

Klüssendorf: I have taken note of it.

taz: Do you think that is right, given that Klingbeil, as party leader, was largely responsible for the election campaign and also for this defeat?

Klüssendorf: I don't think it would be wise to blame the defeat on just a few people. We are now being called upon to act together. But one thing is also clear: we need to talk seriously about a new beginning in terms of personnel and content. I am very sure that there will also be changes at the top of the party. We need a new direction for the party, and above all a much younger approach. The Left, for example, has managed this better than we have.

taz: Saskia Esken also wants to remain party leader.

Klüssendorf: Ultimately, the party will decide. There will be a party conference where the presidium and party board will be re-elected. As things stand, this is still planned for the end of the year, but I think it is necessary to make these decisions much sooner.

taz: The SPD has lost almost 2.5 million voters nationwide to the CDU/CSU and AfD and 1 million to the Left and BSW. Does the party now have to position itself more left-wing or more conservative?

Klüssendorf: The only good news for us is that we are electable for a broad range of voters. And the goal must be to win them back. We are required to put forward our own content, to take it seriously and not to allow the social democratic program to be undermined. The foundation for this is our claim to be a left-wing people's party.

taz: You are the spokesperson for the parliamentary left of the parliamentary group. How will you be involved in the program process in the future?

Klüssendorf: We as the Parliamentary Left will play an active and leading role in this process.

taz: Now there are initial talks between the CDU/CSU and the SPD. Friedrich Merz wants a government by Easter . How far is the road to the CDU/CSU?

Klüssendorf: A government with the Union is not an automatic outcome. I am aware that it is the only democratic majority that is possible after the election. Nevertheless, the rifts that Friedrich Merz has opened up rhetorically and in terms of content are deep. He must go back down this path, not us. The coalition talks will be tough.

taz: What points should the SPD put forward?

Klüssendorf: I don't want to pre-empt the negotiations. But the list would be very long. Simply wanting to reverse all the political achievements of the Social Democratic-led federal government is certainly not a basis for talks and will not be possible with us.

taz: The Union now wants to quickly change the Basic Law to create a special fund for defense. Is that a good idea?

Klüssendorf: We will have to talk about that. There are good arguments for and equally good arguments against. The discussion between the democratic factions is important and I am pleased that there is movement on this issue.