More than 4,000 SPD members have signed an initiative against the planned citizen's income reform, enabling a member petition. The party's base is opposing the overhaul into a basic security for job seekers by the black-red coalition. Organizers plan to submit the signatures in Berlin on Monday.
An initiative from parts of the SPD base against the planned citizen's income reform has reached the required number of signatures. 'We have over 4,000 signatures from members,' said Franziska Drohsel, former Juso chairwoman and one of the initiators, to the Süddeutsche Zeitung. This exceeds the threshold of one percent of SPD members needed for a member petition.
On Monday, the organizers plan to submit the signatures at the SPD headquarters in Berlin and officially apply for the petition. The initiative opposes the reform announced by the federal government, in which the black-red coalition aims to transform citizen's income into a basic security for job seekers. 'The SPD must not support policies that punish poverty,' demanded the initiators.
Among the 167 initial signatories are Juso leader Philipp Türmer, other leading representatives of the Young Socialists, and numerous members of SPD state executives. Active Bundestag members did not participate. The initiators are optimistic about the outcome: 'I am very optimistic that we will succeed in the end,' said Drohsel. She compared it to the Agenda 2010, where a similar petition failed but changed the discourse within the party.
On whether success could endanger the coalition with the Union, Drohsel stated: 'Wrong projects remain wrong. They produce nothing good, even with the risk of further weakening the alliance.'