Bärbel Bas complains of lack of humanity in politics after resignation — Der Spiegel

In Germany, former Federal Minister of Labour and former leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Bärbel Bas, said there is a lack of humanity in the political environment. In her first interview after resigning, she also said that she had felt insufficiently supported, including within her own party.

Resignation after a loss

As Der Spiegel reports, at the end of September, Bas's stepdaughter, who had cancer and with whom she had been close for many years, died. While caring for her in a hospice, the politician realized that she was losing strength.

According to Bas, she needed time, but work in the highest political offices did not allow for that. She could not focus on official and political matters and realized that she would not be able to return to work immediately. She announced her resignation from her positions on October 12. At the same time, the 58-year-old Bas retained her Bundestag mandate for the Duisburg I constituency.

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Criticism of coalition partners and the SPD

Bas criticized what she believes is a widespread “culture of silence” in politics. She said that people’s prolonged illnesses are hardly discussed there because no one wants to appear weak in the harsh political environment.

The former minister also said that she faced attacks from the coalition partner, the CDU/CSU bloc, during a difficult personal period. At the same time, she said that if she had known the scale the coalition dispute would take on after her criticism, she would have phrased it differently.

According to Bas, she informed Chancellor Friedrich Merz about her private situation and complained about attacks from his party. Merz assured her that he would address the matter, but, in the politician’s assessment, this produced no result. Bas also said she would have liked greater support from the SPD, where criticism of her had been voiced as early as summer. She did not discuss her resignation with Merz: the chancellor was informed about it by SPD co-chair Lars Klingbeil.