After attacks on Schwesig, SPD women accuse conservatives of "systematic sexism"
The head of the SPD's women's group, Carmen Wegge, backed Manuela Schwesig, saying the conservatives were "afraid of strong SPD women."
Archive image · Photo: Dr. Frank Gaeth / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
After sharp attacks from Christian Democrats on Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's state premier Manuela Schwesig, the national chair of the Social Democrats' women's organization, Carmen Wegge, accused the conservative Union bloc of sexism. "The Union is afraid of strong SPD women like Manuela Schwesig," Wegge told the RND media network. "This is not a slip, this is systematic sexism."
When women hold power, they are not challenged politically but attacked personally, Wegge said. Schwesig's competence was being questioned, her tone criticized and her credibility undermined, she added.
Schwesig had accused the Union of treating former Labor Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD), who has resigned, in an "inhumane" way. Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) rejected the criticism. Young Union leader Johannes Winkel told the group's congress in Bonn that Schwesig had "let herself be bought by Russia," alluding to her past support for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.