Manuela Schwesig has been confirmed with a slight damper for two more years as SPD leader in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The prime minister received 88.5 percent of the delegate votes at a party conference in Rostock on Saturday.
In 2019 she received a strong 94.8 percent. 115 of the 130 delegates voted yes, 11 voted no, and four abstained. Schwesig has led the state association since 2017. There were no opposing candidates.
In recent months, Schwesig has also been criticized for the discussions about the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and for its previously pro-Russia course. For many delegates, however, the high election victory on September 26 last year weighed more, when the SPD won 39.6 percent of the votes in the state elections.
The clear election victory is largely due to Schwesig’s account, according to the party leadership. “Thank you for the trust in difficult times,” said Schwesig after her re-election.
Previously, Schwesig had taken stock of the situation in the state and the party since 2019 – at that time the last ordinary SPD state party conference was in Warnemünde. Schwesig also referred to the challenges posed by the corona pandemic, the shipyard crisis and the 2021 election campaign.
With regard to the current energy crisis, she said that citizens and companies should not be left alone. She promised a hardship fund of 30 million euros for MV.
