Gerhard Schröder remains a member of the SPD. The responsible arbitration commission of the SPD sub-district Hanover ruled that the former chancellor could not be accused of violating the party order. After the verdict became known, leading SPD politicians quickly tried to classify the decision, which should please many SPD members, after all Schröder still has a few supporters among his comrades.
However, the official tenor is that Schröder is largely isolated in the SPD. SPD leader Lars Klingbeil confirmed this on Monday: "For us it is clear: Gerhard Schröder is politically isolated with his positions in the SPD," said Klingbeil. Lower Saxony's head of state Stephan Weil chose a similar formulation: "Hard and clear criticism of the Russian approach would have been expected from a personality like Gerhard Schröder. It is all the more regrettable that this has not happened to this day," said the Lower Saxony Prime Minister in a statement distributed on Monday. With his position on the Ukraine conflict, Schröder is completely isolated within social democracy.
The SPD leader Saskia Esken had suggested to Schröder months ago that he leave the party because of his statements on the Ukraine war. After an interview that Schröder recently gave to the star, she renewed her sharp criticism: "Gerhard Schröder does not act as ex-chancellor, but as a businessman, and that's how we should interpret his statements," she told the newspapers of the Funke media group . "With everything he does and says, he acts in his own interest and in that of his business partners." In the interview, Schröder said, among other things: "The good news is that the Kremlin wants a negotiated solution."
The former chancellor should keep his party busy. The SPD local association in Essen-Frohnhausen/Altendorf, which has applied for party organization proceedings, is considering appealing. "For us, nothing has changed in the attitude that Mr. Schröder should be expelled from the SPD," said local chairman Ali Kaan Sevinc of the "Rheinische Post".
According to the arbitration commission's reasoning, the former chancellor was "not guilty of violating the party order." The proceedings against Schröder had been initiated by a total of 17 SPD branches. There were even more, but their applications had not been submitted properly or on time.
Schröder himself initially made no public statement.
