It didn't take long for the facade of unity displayed by the Social Democratic Party (SPD) during the election campaign to fracture. After its disastrous result in the parliamentary elections on Sunday, February 23, with 16.4% of the vote – its worst score since 1945 – voices within the party have begun criticizing the failure of a new leadership following its defeat. While the outgoing chancellor, Olaf Scholz, is expected to step down, the SPD's two co-leaders, Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil, plan to remain in their posts. On Wednesday, February 26, Klingbeil was also due to take over the leadership of the parliamentary group in the Bundestag, a key position in coalition negotiations to form a government with Christian Democrat Friedrich Merz (CDU), the likely future chancellor.

Despite the historic failure of the SPD, which governed for just over three years, the party is set to remain in government for the next four years. Indeed, it is the only party capable of forming a majority with the conservatives of the CDU/CSU in the next Bundestag. The two parties obtained a narrow majority of seats (328 elected out of 630) and on Tuesday, February 25, agreed to form a government "before Easter." But SPD members are beginning to protest: Is it possible to keep an almost unchanged team in power after such humiliation at the ballot box?

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