SPD leader Martin Schulz has announced a fundamental reform of his party after the Chancellor defeated him to serve a fourth term.
Schulz quit his role as president of the European Parliament to run against Merkel, as the nation was suffering deep division over policies, including open doors for migrants and refugees.
The Member of European Parliament (MEP) said he would now be “reforming the party, repositioning it programmatically and organisationally.”
Internal and external security as well as social security must be addressed in Germany, according to Schulz, who wants to reach those voters disenfranchised by Merkel’s politics.
“If we even want to think about getting into the Chancellery in the foreseeable future, we must fully reform the party,” he said.
“Processing the worst SPD result of the post-war period,” Schulz told Funke media group on Saturday, when asked about his aims.
“We must not pretend that it was just an industrial accident,” he said.
Schulz said the SPD must regain credibility.
People have “lost the confidence that the SPD is the party of the people who depend on the protection of the state,” the MEP said.
The party leader, who has been in office for seven months, announced “a review of the last decade and a half” ahead of the SPD party congress.
Schulz said the SPD has “alienated itself from the people who need us the most because they can not assert themselves in the state”.
Safety at the workplace, the health system, education, and old age care should take new policy precedent, Schulz said.
Schulz said he would discuss new forms of employment with the trade unions.
“We absolutely need employment relationships bound by collective agreements. But some areas have been created that no longer fit into the classic employer-employee structure,” said the SPD chief.
“As important as the so-called normal employment relationship is – the SPD must also become a party for the self-employed.”