Overview
- In a new interview, former SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel says the party is setting the wrong priorities and should stop inventing social benefits for every life situation.
- He condemns an internal move to reopen cuts to the Bürgergeld reform despite members having approved the coalition line, calling the effort “madness.”
- Gabriel warns that German industry is sliding and that education rankings are worsening, arguing these problems are being neglected.
- He cites the 1959 Godesberg Program as a model for a reality-based reorientation of the party’s purpose.
- He says the Merz-led black‑red coalition must deliver tangible results because an early collapse would signal failure by democratic parties, and coverage reports no formal SPD response so far.