Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07DUSSELDORF2
2007-01-25 17:47:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Dusseldorf
Cable title:  

NRW SPD TRIES TO EMERGE FROM CRISIS WITH A NEW LEADER:

Tags:  PGOV ECON GM 
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VZCZCXRO8618
RR RUEHAG RUEHLZ
DE RUEHDF #0002/01 0251747
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251747Z JAN 07
FM AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0055
INFO RUCNFRG/FRG COLLECTIVE
RUEHDF/AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF 0067
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSSELDORF 000002 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ECON GM
SUBJECT: NRW SPD TRIES TO EMERGE FROM CRISIS WITH A NEW LEADER:
HANNELORE KRAFT


DUSSELDORF 00000002 001.2 OF 002


Sensitive but Unclassified. Not for Internet Distribution

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSSELDORF 000002

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ECON GM
SUBJECT: NRW SPD TRIES TO EMERGE FROM CRISIS WITH A NEW LEADER:
HANNELORE KRAFT


DUSSELDORF 00000002 001.2 OF 002


Sensitive but Unclassified. Not for Internet Distribution


1. (SBU) Summary: The SPD in North-Rhine Westfalia (NRW) has
placed its hopes in Hannelore Kraft, SPD floor leader in the
Landtag, to lead the party out of the crisis it has been in
since being ejected from power in 2005 after 39 years. The
party chose Kraft, its third leader since 2005, at a special
convention in Bochum on January 20 to rebuild the party and lead
its challenge to the CDU-FDP coalition in state elections in

2010. Kraft is young (45) and has climbed to the top of her
party very quickly, in part because of her energy and intellect
but also because of a paucity of alternatives and disarray in
her party. She has been Science Minister, Minister for Europe,
and SPD leader in the Landtag, but still suffers from weak name
recognition (as many as 90% of NRW residents in a recent poll
did not know who heads the NRW SPD). She has several years,
however, to correct this weakness and to rebuild her party
before facing the voters. Kraft has been accessible and is well
and favorably known to the Consulate. End Summary.

Overwhelming Support for the New "Power Woman"
-------------- --------------


2. (SBU) The SPD convened a special state convention in Bochum
on January 20 to elect a new chairperson, following the
resignation in December 2006 of Jochen Dieckmann, ostensibly
"for personal reasons," but above all because of his lack of
success in reinvigorating the party in NRW. The sole candidate
for the top position, Kraft received 95.6 percent of the votes
cast by the 429 convention delegates, an extremely good result,
given that she joined the SPD only 12 years ago and did not rise
through the ranks of the party, normally a prerequisite for a
leadership position in the NRW SPD. With the two top leadership
positions of the NRW SPD (Landtag floor leader and state party
chairperson) combined in her hands, Kraft will, barring
unforeseen problems, challenge Minister-President Juergen
Ruettgers (CDU) in the 2010 state elections, although her
official nomination as the SPD candidate will not come until
later.


3. (U) As state chairperson of the - by far - largest SPD state
organization in Germany, Kraft should also play an increasingly

important role in national SPD affairs in coming years. Both
SPD national chairman Kurt Beck and Vice Chancellor Fritz
M|ntefering expressed this expectation in their speeches at the
Bochum convention, in which they hailed Kraft as the new "power
woman" from NRW (playing on her last name, which means "power"
in German). An influential delegate told us that Kraft, already
a member of the SPD's national executive committee, will move up
to the Presidium within the next two years and later possibly
also become one of the national vice chairpersons of the SPD (a
position currently held by Bonn Lord Mayor Bdrbel Dieckmann).


4. (U) Invoking traditional Social Democratic values and
denouncing neo-liberalism in her one-hour speech at the
convention, Kraft went to great lengths to present herself as a
dyed-in-the-wool Social Democrat. While freely acknowledging
that she was a latecomer in the SPD, and regretting that she had
never been a member of its youth organization, she made it a
point to invoke traditional Social Democratic values and to
underscore her support for current SPD positions, (for higher
minimum wages, against university tuition fees, against further
privatization of public services, against further cuts in social
benefits, for retaining a certain level of government subsidies
for the hard coal mining industry and against nuclear energy).
She sharply attacked the CDU-FDP coalition in the state, which
she accused of trying to sound like Social Democrats while
pursuing neo-liberal policies. She denounced Ruettgers' efforts
to style himself as a champion of social justice as "dishonest
and not authentic."

Comment
--------------


5. (SBU) Kraft, the youngest SPD state chairperson in NRW
history and the first woman in that position, faces major tasks
including: restoring self-confidence to a seriously weakened
party that remains demoralized after its historic defeat in 2005
after 39 years in power; returning the SPD to the offensive in
its largest bastion nationwide; and preparing the way for
another chance at power in 2010. She is fully aware of the
difficulties ahead, but her excellent showing in Bochum is a
good start. Aides to Ruettgers have told the CG he is not
taking her challenge lightly, as we saw recently when NRW CDU
General Secretary Hendrik Wuest devoted most of a recent New
Year speech to attacking her. Political observers here recall
that in 2000 in Essen, just 10 miles from the Bochum convention
hall, Angela Merkel (at the time the same age as Kraft is today
and also a "latecomer" to her party) was elected national CDU
leader after her party had fallen from power and was
demoralized. Many political observers then only saw the odds
against Merkel and underestimated her political mettle,

DUSSELDORF 00000002 002.2 OF 002


strengths, and ability to overcome the odds. Ruettgers and the
CDU and FDP in NRW have begun to take Kraft more seriously, in
part because of her potential as a political "power woman." End
Comment.

Bio Note


6. (SBU) Hannelore Kraft's political career is unusual for NRW
SPD leaders. She did not rise through the party's youth wing,
joining the SPD in 1994 at the relatively late -- by NRW
standards -- age of 33. Her atypical career path has been to
her advantage, as she has benefited from the party's search for
a fresh, dynamic face after its crushing defeat in May 2005
after 39 years governing the state. Her career trajectory has
been steep, having entered elective politics only in 2000, as
the (surprise) winner of a seat in the Landtag in her hometown,
the industrial city of Muelheim (Ruhr). She was reelected in
May 2005 for a second term and shortly thereafter as opposition
leader in the NRW Landtag by an overwhelming majority. Her
success has been due in large part to her excellent record as
Minister for Science and Research (under former NRW
Minister-President and current Federal Finance Minister Peer
Steinbrueck, a position she held from November 2002 to May
2005),and Federal and European Affairs (under Minister Wolfgang
Clement April 2001-November 2002),her articulate and feisty
personality, as well as the party's search for a young,
charismatic leader.


7. (U) Kraft is interested in close contacts with the United
States and has been accessible and friendly in interactions with
the CG and other CG Duesseldorf staff. She has visited the
United States at least once (i.e. Silicon Valley),while
Minister for Science and Research. Before entering politics,
she worked as a consultant in a technology center in the Ruhr
area 1989-2000. She was born into a working class family, has
degrees in banking (BA equiv) and macroeconomics (MA equiv) from
Duisburg University and also studied at King's College, London.
Her husband Udo is an electrician who runs a small business.
They have one 13 year old son, Jan. The Krafts live in a house
together with her mother in Muelheim.


8. (U) This message was coordinated with Embassy Berlin.
BOYSE