Scholz’s SDP  plans major tax cut as antisemitism polarizes Berlin’s Left Party

 

Desk Editor  I Monday, October 14, 2024

 

BERLIN – The Social Democratic Party (SPD) of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz plans to lower taxes for a majority of the population if reelected in next year’s federal elections, according to a draft resolution to be adopted on Sunday just as antisemitism is threatening to polarise Berlin’s Left Party.

In return, the top 1% of incomes are to be taxed more heavily. “This reform will give people more financial leeway and strengthen purchasing power. We are thereby stimulating the economy from the bottom up and from the middle of society,” says the draft prepared for Sunday’s SPD executive committee meeting, seen by dpa.

The German economy – Europe’s largest – is struggling to cope with the fallout of the Ukraine war, trade tensions with China and high energy costs, while burdened by red tape and creaking infrastructure. Revised government predictions forecast a recession for 2024.

Scholz’s two-day gathering with the entire party leadership is aimed at laying the groundwork for the party’s 2025 election campaign. The SPD is performing poorly however, and few expect Scholz to remain in office following next year’s federal elections.

The six-page draft resolution, titled “We are fighting for Germany’s future: Stimulating the economy, securing jobs, relieving employees,” also promotes a minimum wage of €15 ($17.5), measures to promote the sale of electric vehicles and a reform of the debt rules.

The party does not intend to lower corporate taxes as a means of promoting investments in Germany. However, it would offer large tax deductions and incentives for firms that invest in future-oriented industries and provide good jobs in Germany, the draft says.

The document lashes out at the conservative Christian Democrats’ (CDU) economic policy under party leader Friedrich Merz, who is widely tipped to succeed Scholz next year.

“Those who insult employees in Germany as lazy and deny them good wages and secure pensions have lost respect for the true achievers who keep our country running with their hard work every day,” the paper says.

This includes the millions of people whose families migrated to Germany, “who have to experience being called a ‘problem’ by the CDU and [sister party] CSU every day.”\

Nationwide surveys put the SPD far behind the CDU, polling at around 16-17%, on a par with – or even slightly behind – the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).

Meanwhile, Berlin’s Left Party (Die Linke) is divided on the issue of antisemitism. At the state party conference, the discussion ends irreconcilably and without result.

The state party conference of the Berlin Left Party has ended with a fierce dispute over the issue of antisemitism. After lengthy discussions that did not lead to an agreement, a number of delegates left the event on Friday evening, including several prominent left-wingers such as former Senator for Culture Klaus Lederer and Left Party member of the Bundestag Petra Pau.

The reason for the dispute was a motion that took a critical look at the issue of left-wing antisemitism. It stated that, among other things, the fact that people on the political left had relativised and sometimes even celebrated the Hamas massacre or called for the destruction of Israel was deeply alarming.

Lederer called for support for the motion

‘The left must never ignore the role of eliminatory antisemitism, which drives the terror and strategies of actors such as Hamas and Hezbollah as well as their support from the Iranian mullah regime.’

The motion was supported by former party leader Katina Schubert, parliamentary group leader Anne Helm and MPs such as Sebastian Schlüsselburg, among others. Lederer strongly campaigned for its adoption.

However, there were a number of proposed amendments to the text of the motion which, in the view of the authors, would have watered down the clear condemnation of anti-Semitism or even turned it into its opposite.

Motion was withdrawn

After a majority of delegates voted in favour of the amendments, the original motion was withdrawn.

One proposer said in a personal statement that she no longer had the basis to continue participating in the party conference. Other attendees also left the room. The quorum then had to be re-established. An own-initiative motion to nevertheless vote on it with the agreed amendments did not receive the necessary two-thirds majority.