Former Senator Geisel withdraws from re-election - Criticism toward SPD persists
Former SPD Senator Andreas Geisel Steps Back from Politics
Andreas Geisel, a long-serving member of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and former Senator for Construction and Interior Affairs in Berlin, has announced that he will not run in the next state parliament election.
Geisel, who has been in politics for 31 years, eight of which have been in this legislature, has been a vocal critic of the SPD's housing and rent policy. He believes that the current offerings are insufficient given the housing shortage and is sceptical about the discussion on the nationalization of housing companies, stating that state funds would not be used for renovations to create affordable housing.
His decision not to run in the next election was influenced by his beliefs that the SPD's policies do not align with his own. He finds the planned changes to the neutrality law problematic, specifically allowing Muslim teachers to wear a headscarf in Berlin's schools. Geisel advocates for a strict separation of religion and state.
During the 2021 state election, Geisel faced criticism due to severe issues. Despite this, he refused to resign and has not been part of the Senate since the repeat election in 2023. In an interview with Tagesspiegel, he stated that it's democratically sensible to make a change at some point after being in politics for 31 years.
Geisel believes that nationalization and identity-political priorities are dominating the SPD's politics more than economic policy and social issues. His positions are no longer a majority within the Berlin SPD, and he states that it's time for new voices and perspectives to lead the party.
Throughout his career, Geisel has served as Senator for Urban Development and Environment from 2014 to 2021, followed by Interior Senator from 2016 to 2021, and Senator for Urban Development and Construction until 2023. He has been a member of the SPD's state executive since 1996.
Despite the lack of detailed critiques of SPD policy or explicit positions on identity politics in publicly available recent sources, Geisel's decision to step back from his role in state politics marks a significant departure from his long career in politics.
- Andreas Geisel, despite his long career in politics, has expressed concerns about the increasing dominance of nationalization and identity-political priorities over economic policy and social issues within the SPD.
- In the past, Geisel has been a vocal critic of the SPD's housing and rent policy, suggesting that the current offerings are insufficient in addressing the housing shortage, and has been skeptical about the discussion on the nationalization of housing companies.
- Geisel, having served as a Senator for various high-profile positions within the city of Berlin, has recently decided against running in the next state parliament election, citing a lack of alignment between his own beliefs and the SPD's policies.
- In a previous interview with Tagesspiegel, Geisel advocated for a strict separation of religion and state, expressing his concerns about the proposed changes to the neutrality law allowing Muslim teachers to wear a headscarf in Berlin's schools.
- Moving forward, Geisel believes that new voices and perspectives are needed to lead the SPD, marking a significant departure from his long career in politics that has included stints in the areas of war-and-conflicts, policy-and-legislation, crime-and-justice, general-news, sports, and sports-betting, in addition to city development and interior affairs.
