German Labour Minister Bärbel Bas resigns from cabinet and party posts

Summarised from 2 outlets · 3 reports · Updated 12 Oct, 14:43 · Archive

Bärbel Bas, labour minister and co-leader of the centre-left SPD, has quit both posts, citing her stepdaughter's death and political attacks.

Bärbel Bas, 58, announced her resignation on Monday from both her cabinet post and her role as SPD co-chair. She said she was unable to carry out her duties fully in the short term following her stepdaughter's death and needed time to process her grief.

Bas explicitly blamed continued political attacks against her, including from CDU lawmakers, for hastening her decision to step down. The Guardian reports that some CDU members had criticised her absences during a crucial phase of the government's economic reform drive, despite her family tragedy being widely known. SPD co-leader Lars Klingbeil criticised these attacks as 'indecent' and cancelled a planned trip to India. He called for 'a culture of mutual respect' between the coalition partners, saying they were competitors but needed to maintain standards of political discourse.

Alexander Schweitzer, the former SPD premier of Rhineland-Palatinate and former labour minister of that state, will replace Bas in the labour ministry. Her successor as SPD party chair will be elected at a party conference expected for early next year. Chancellor Merz thanked Bas for her cooperation and offered condolences.

How it is being reported

• German minister quits after death of stepdaughter and political attacksFragile coalition suffers another blow as labour minister and co-leader of SPD Bärbel Bas leaves both posts Germany’s labour minister and co-leader of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD), Bärbel Bas, has quit both posts, citing the death of her stepdaughter and subsequent political attacks against her, in a stinging blow to the fragile coalition government. “After my stepdaughter’s death, I realised that I need time to come to terms with my grief,” Bas said in a statement posted on Facebook, without giving further details. Continue reading...Guardian World · 12 Oct, 14:22
• German Social Democrats' leader and Labor Minister Bärbel Bas resigns, amid coalition frictionBärbel Bas has resigned as labor minister and as co-leader of the Social Democrats as tension grows with Chancellor Merz's CDU.DW News · 12 Oct, 07:20
• Germany: Bas quits as SPD co-chair amid coalition frictionBärbel Bas has resigned as labor minister and as co-leader of the Social Democrats as tension grows with Chancellor Merz's CDU.DW News · 12 Oct, 07:20

In this story: Bärbel Bas · Friedrich Merz · Social Democratic Party · Christian Democratic Union · Lars Klingbeil · Alexander Schweitzer · Germany

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