BERLIN: “Justice, respect and dignity,” will be the cornerstones of the Social Democrat’s election manifesto, centre-left party’s next leader Martin Schulz says.
He told delegates that the SPD’s programme for governance will be presented at a congress in Dortmund at the end of June.
Since the end of January he has travelled all over Germany, meeting people “to listen and learn, and to draw necessary conclusions as to what our priorities must be for the coming years,” he tells a party convention.
Drawing a lesson from Donald Trump’s election campaign last year, Schulz says that “the condemnation of entire groups of people must have no place in Germany.”
The bearded Social Democrat, already credited with giving his ailing party a strong shot in the arm, will be anointed SPD leader and standard bearer at a one-day congress in Berlin.
Speaking on Saturday, Schulz had said he hoped to win a vote of confidence with the backing of “a large majority” of party faithful. His decision to leave the European Parliament, which he headed for five years, and be a candidate to lead Germany has given the Social Democrats a new lease of life since party leader Sigmar Gabriel asked him to take the reins in January.
“It’s been encouraging to see in the last few weeks that people are hopeful again that the Social Democrats have a shot,” Schulz told Berlin public radio RBB this week.
“My intention to pursue policies that make the lives of hard-working people a little better is apparently finding a lot of support.”
Opinion surveys have recorded a 10-point jump for the SPD in recent weeks and some polls put it ahead of the conservative bloc of Merkel, who is trying to win a fourth term.
The congress will fire the starting gun for the national election campaign and the race for three state polls, the first of which will be held in Saarland on the French border, on March 26.
Ahead of the congress, Schulz won a nod of support from EU Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker who, despite his centre-right stance, has had a somewhat tense relationship with Merkel.
“Both Martin Schulz and Angela Merkel have the qualities to be chancellor,” he told Bild newspaper on Sunday. — dpa/AFP
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