Klingbeil in ARD “Summer Talk”: “There is no right to be lazy”

In the ARD’s “Summer Interview”, SPD Chairman Lars Klingbeil and the Traffic Light Alliance quickly reached an agreement 2025 Budget Controversy “The whole performance we went through last week was completely unnecessary, superfluous and it further unsettled the country. The federal government’s job is to hand over the budget to parliament,” Klingbeil said in ARD’s “Summer Interviews” to be broadcast on Sunday.

People are dissatisfied with the government. “There is a clear expectation: the government’s budget must be finalized next week,” Klingbeil said. Over the past few days, the controversy has flared up again. The background is the project that should reduce the financing gap in the budget by a total of 8 billion euros. Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner The Liberal Democratic Party (FDP) has commissioned a report on this for legal and economic reasons.

These confirm the fears to a certain extent, but also show how to implement at least some of the measures. Lindner, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) hope to reach an agreement and make a cabinet decision by mid-August.

The SPD chairman also made a comment The debate over citizen money. During the discussion, he found that many people considered part of the citizens’ money to be unfair. “But by the way, we are not talking about 800,000 people who work but still receive citizens’ money because they earn so little at work that they get something extra,” Klingbeil said.

“When suddenly 16,000 people refuse to cooperate with the state, people’s sense of justice is hit. So they take advantage of the unity of the country and sit back and say, I don’t have to do anything. You have to tell them very clearly that there is no right to be lazy.”

Scholz as a candidate for chancellor in 2025

The interview also talked about this Federal election 2025Klingbeil dismissed any doubts that his party would once again run for chancellor with incumbent Olaf Scholz. “He is our chancellor, he remains our chancellor and we will do everything to ensure that he becomes our chancellor again at the next federal election,” Klingbeil told ARD.

He wants to “make it very clear” that as party leader he knows what the next election campaign will look like. There will be a polarization between Scholz and “I assume” possible federal candidate Friedrich Merz.

“It’s a different concept of politics. As a Social Democratic Party we are fighting for more pensions, we are fighting for people not to have to work anymore. Friedrich Merz “People will have to work more, work longer, retire later and have smaller pensions,” Klingbeil said. That polarization has not yet arrived.

“Everyone knows that the SPD can fight, and you will see that in this campaign,” he said. Success is not a foregone conclusion and he knows “how hard we have to work in these 13 months”. The next federal election should be held on September 28, 2025, according to the cabinet’s recommendation.

Klingbeil admits that the SPD is not satisfied with its national poll numbers. “Fifteen percent in the federal government, yes, it’s real, but it’s also painful,” said Klingbeil. The SPD leader stressed that these are “a difficult time.” There are uncertainties, wars and crises. “There is an incredible amount of uncertainty spreading in the country.” This is also reflected in dissatisfaction with traffic light government – “you can’t get around it.”

In late July, a Forsa Institute survey showed that only a third of SPD members said they thought Scholz was a suitable candidate for chancellor, just as many backed Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.

Scholz himself has made it clear that he will run again as a candidate for chancellor. “As chancellor, I will run again for chancellor,” he said at a press conference before the summer vacation. A reporter asked him if he wanted to follow the example of US President Joe Biden and not run for public office again.