DThe SPD was still delighted with its victory in the federal elections when Friedrich Merz said he had identified the biggest weakness in the traffic light government: “There are 49 Jusos in the new SPD faction, that’s the blocking minority of the new government.” In fact, they’ve been sitting since September significantly more young MPs in the Bundestag than before. In terms of numbers, they are a power factor for the SPD and the Greens. This is particularly delicate for the SPD chancellor. It was only a few years ago that a large part of the Jusos, led by then chairman Kevin Kühnert, campaigned against Olaf Scholz as party chairman – with success. And now they should secure Scholz’s chancellor majority and dutifully raise their hands when voting?
That is exactly what happened in the vote on the amendment to the Basic Law for the anchoring of a special fund for the Bundeswehr: Of the 38 MPs aged up to 29 who took part in the vote, 37 voted yes. Only Jessica Rosenthal said no to the special fund. Rosenthal is Kühnert’s successor as Juso chairman. He is also a newcomer to the Bundestag, but voted for the special fund. So the Juso chairwoman is isolated with her opinion. “Your” Jusos may mathematically have a blocking minority, but in fact they follow the government line.
It is also of greater importance for other votes, such as the extension of the Bundeswehr’s deployment in the Sahel region. When the Infection Protection Act was changed in mid-March, a large majority of young people voted in favour. When it came to compulsory vaccination, where there were several applications with different models to choose from, most of the young MPs voted in favor of the application, which was developed and supported by the majority of the Greens and SPD.
Disappointment at Fridays for Future
So what’s left of the fighting spirit of the boys? There is, for example, the Green Party’s Kathrin Henneberger, albeit 35 years old, who used to be spokeswoman for “Ende Gelände” and moved into the Bundestag to save six villages in North Rhine-Westphalia from RWE’s lignite excavators. Like other activists, she had to get out of her bubble, because everyone in the Bundestag has to deal with dozens of issues and make compromises.
26 Green MPs were supported by the Green Youth, in the parliamentary group there are 22 MPs under 30. “We young, new MPs were not elected to the Bundestag to put ourselves at the bottom,” announced the 25-year-old new MP Bruno Hönel. However, none of the climate activists from Fridays for Future made it into the Bundestag, although several prominent representatives had tried.
In general, the environmental movement has clearly lost momentum. The topics of climate and war were linked very quickly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But in the meantime, the question of how Germany can quickly replace fossil raw materials from Russia – first with other fossil raw materials – prevails. The frustration at Fridays for Future is great. The spokeswoman Luisa Neubauer recently asked: “Where are the 49 Jusos in the Bundestag who wanted to make a revolution in the SPD at some point?”
The Juso chairwoman Rosenthal promised at least a little revolution shortly after the federal election: “Now we ourselves are an important factor in the group.” Rosenthal is the boss of 75,000 Jusos, in theory this is a powerful force. Rosenthal’s dual role is seen critically in the association. Kevin Kühnert also had to deal with it first. When the coalition with the Greens and the FDP was already in place, he was still teasing the Free Democrats. In the meantime, Kühnert is Secretary General of his party and has to explain the Scholz turning point.
Some are even with the “Seeheimers”
Even if they wanted things to be different, most young people first have to join the lower ranks in the Bundestag. At the first meeting, everyone in the SPD parliamentary group was still inspired by the new, young spirit. Many new MPs are now reporting that there is not much left of it. Of course, the influence of the newcomers should not only be determined by their voting behavior. They should also introduce new perspectives, for example in the area of intergenerational justice.
In addition, an above-average number of them are female. The fact that so many young SPD members made it into parliament at all was due to an original circumstance: when the candidates were nominated, the SPD was starving at 13 to 15 percent in the polls. Many older members of parliament could no longer be nominated. So the election became the hour of the youngsters, although Scholz was mainly successful because he was considered the better Merkel successor.
The 49 Jusos formed an informal group at the beginning of the legislative period. But what does she want? Not all of them were accommodated by the left-wing parliamentary currents, some also by the comparatively conservative Seeheimers. The boys are not a homogeneous block, they have different biographies.
When Rosenthal announced her opposition to the special fund in the parliamentary group, the young MP Isabel Cademartori countered: “I am also speaking here on behalf of the young people who have no concerns.” have been socialized by Willy Brandt’s policy of detente.
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