Berlin SPD's Orkan Özdemir Demands Party Leadership Resign After Historic Election Defeat

Following Berlin's Abgeordnetenhaus election, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) recorded its worst-ever result, securing just 12 percent of votes under lead candidate Steffen Krach. Support among working-class voters fell to roughly six percent, signaling a dramatic erosion of the party's traditional base. Berlin parliament member Orkan Özdemir, who has held his seat since 2021, called for the resignation of party leaders Bas and Klingbeil in an interview with the publication der Freitag. Özdemir argued that voters feel abandoned by the SPD, describing the sentiment that people feel "thrown under the bus" by the party. He urged both personnel consequences and a substantive realignment of the party's political direction. The interview, conducted by Joscha Frahm, examines how the one-time workers' party might halt its free fall and what a future SPD could look like. The discussion centers on the party's struggle to reconnect with its former core constituency and the internal debate over leadership accountability following the electoral collapse.