Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder can remain in the SPD. According to the DPA news agency, the responsible arbitration commission of the SPD sub-district in Hanover decided this Monday. The "Süddeutsche Zeitung" reported first.
Schröder could not be proven to have violated the party order, it was said as a reason. The Commission sees no basis for a complaint or even an exclusion from the party. A party exclusion is at least temporarily off the table.
However, two other instances are possible in the party organization procedure: the SPD district of Hanover and the SPD Federal Arbitration Commission. An appeal can be lodged against the decision of the Arbitration Committee within two weeks.
No fewer than 17 SPD branches had applied for party order proceedings against Schröder, and there were other applications that did not meet the formal requirements. The arbitration commission in Hanover had negotiated the procedure in public in mid-July, but with the media excluded. Schröder himself did not appear in person for the appointment, nor did he send a lawyer.
The arbitration commission of the SPD sub-district Hanover region is responsible for the procedure because Schröder is a member of the associated SPD local association Oststadt-Zoo.
The 78-year-old has long been criticized for being too close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian energy industry. After Russia's illegal attack on neighboring Ukraine, calls for the former chairman to be expelled from the party became louder and louder.
Most recently, statements by Gerhard Schröder in an exclusive stern interview caused massive cross-party criticism. Among other things, the former chancellor claimed that Moscow was striving for a negotiated solution to the conflict. He described the war as a "mistake", but he did not distance himself from the Kremlin ruler Putin: "Do I have to jump over every little stick that is held out to me? I'm not like that. I made decisions and I stand by them, and I made it clear: maybe I can be useful again," said Schröder.
SPD leader Saskia Esken had already suggested to Schröder in April that he leave the party because of his statements on the Ukraine war. However, the former chancellor is not completely isolated in the SPD. There are also many SPD members who showed solidarity with Schröder, said the managing director of the SPD district in Hanover, Christoph Matterne, on the sidelines of the party organization process. "They say: If Gerhard Schröder is excluded, then it's over for me after 40 years."
Gerhard Schröder joined the SPD in 1963. From 1999 to 2004 he was chairman of the Social Democrats, from 1998 to 2005 Federal Chancellor.
Source: "Süddeutsche Zeitung", DPA news agency
