Müntefering's Resignation

Franz Müntefering is retiring at the age of 67, Were it not for the tragic circumstances of his wife's struggle against cancer, one would be tempted to say that it's fitting. Müntefering was the one who suggested raising the retirement age in Germany from 65 to 67.

That was a bold step for a Social Democrat, drawing a huge outcry from labor unions and giving a central issue to the newly formed rival Left Party. Previously, as part of the SPD-led government under Gerhard Schröder, Müntefering had also been a major advocate of the Agenda 2010 reforms, which cut back the social welfare state.

But Müntefering was anything but a neo-liberal capitalist. He was also the one who accused investors of snapping up profits and destroying jobs like a plague of locusts. Müntefering was an old-school Social Democrat who only pushed for painful cuts to ensure that social welfare programs remained affordable.

Recently, Müntefering had to swallow a number of political defeats. Two weeks ago, at the SPD party conference, his rival Kurt Beck convinced Social Democrats to back reforms to Müntefering's Agenda 2010, and on Monday, Chancellor Angela Merkel's grand coalition dismissed his idea for a minimum wage for mail deliverers.

Those defeats didn't mean he had to retire. The SPD may have voted against him on one issue, but the party still celebrated him as a hero, and Merkel has never tired in her praise for Müntefering as a stabilizing factor within the governing coalition.

But even if there is no reason to doubt that Müntefering's decision to step down was a personal, and not a political one, he chose an apt juncture to do so. Germany is halfway through the current legislative period, and his successors will have enough time to make names for themselves. Moreover, party leader Kurt Beck will have a free hand to prepare the SPD for the next election.

If he is to avoid an electoral debacle in 2009, Beck will have to check the rise of the Left Party and free the SPD from Merkel's shadow. His most recent initiatives were aimed at doing both.

But Beck will have to tread carefully to avoid endangering the grand coalition. That's why he appointed Olaf Scholz as labor minister -- Scholz is a non-ideological technocrat who won't disrupt the management of government with any wild escapades.

The SPD under Beck will now enter a new phase in the struggle for political power, while Franz Müntefering will enter retirement -- at the age of 67.

Peter Stützle heads DW-RADIO's capital bureau in Berlin (jc).