“Ms Schwesig should realize that she has completely lost her way and apologize”

After the resignation of Bärbel Bas (SPD), the CDU and SPD continue to argue about how to deal with the former labor minister. The CDU led by Bundestag member Christoph Ploß is now even demanding an apology from SPD Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig. He told the "Rheinische Post": "Ms. Schwesig should realize that she has completely lost her way and apologize."

Bärbel Bas unexpectedly resigned from her positions as Federal Labor Minister and SPD co-chair on Monday. The 58-year-old justified her decision, among other things, with her sadness after the death of her stepdaughter. At the same time, she reproached her coalition partner: the public attacks on her - "unfortunately also from the ranks of the coalition partner" - had been intensified during the personally difficult time, Bas' statement said. The Union recently criticized Bas because of unfinished draft laws, including pension reform.

Bas received support for her allegations from her own party. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Prime Minister Schwesig spoke of "inhumane and ruthless" attacks by the CDU. The SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil renewed his criticism of the CDU in "Bild" on Tuesday: "We explicitly did not express any criticism of her and her house in the summer when Katherina Reiche was ill, so we would have liked the same with Bärbel Bas and her house." Federal Economics Minister Reiche temporarily stopped work in the summer due to medical procedures.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz rejected the allegations as “unfair” at a Union parliamentary group meeting on Tuesday, reports “Bild”. CDU member of the Bundestag Tilman Kuban accused the SPD of double standards. He criticized on X that Manuela Schwesig herself had sharply criticized the pension reform presented by Bärbel Bas together with Friedrich Merz.

At Employers' Day on Tuesday, Friedrich Merz indirectly emphasized that the development of content in the Ministry of Labor had been too slow for him. He said: "The pension reform lies in this ministry, the reform of the labor market lies in this ministry, and all the legislative proposals that we approved on July 1st on these topics lie. The pension insurance reform - we received the proposals on June 22nd. Today it is October 13th."