Saskia Esken
Saskia Esken | |
|---|---|
 Esken at hart aber fair in 2022 | |
| Co-leader of the Social Democratic Party | |
| Assumed office 6 December 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Malu Dreyer (acting) |
| Member of the Bundestag for Baden-Württemberg | |
| Assumed office 22 September 2013 | |
| Constituency | At-large |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Saskia Christina Hofer 28 August 1961 Stuttgart, West Germany |
| Political party | Social Democratic |
| Spouse | Roland Esken (m. 1993) |
| Children | 3 |
| Alma mater | University of Stuttgart |
| Signature |  |
| Part of a series on |
| Socialism |
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Saskia Christina Esken (née Hofer; born 28 August 1961) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has been serving as co-leader of the party since being elected in December 2019 (alongside Norbert Walter-Borjans) and re-elected in December 2021 (alongside Lars Klingbeil). She has been a member of the Bundestag since 2013 and was an IT specialist in the early 1990s.
Early life and career
Esken was born 1961 in Stuttgart. After unfinished studies in literature and sociology and employment in various unskilled labor positions, she obtained, in 1991, a professional certificate in IT. She worked in this field until the birth of her children in 1994.[1]
Political career
Early beginnings
Esken entered the SPD in 1990. From 2008 to 2015 she was the chairwoman of the Bad Liebenzell local association, and from 2010 to 2020 she was the chairwoman of the Calw district association.
Member of the German Parliament, 2013–present
Esken has been a member of the German Bundestag since the 2013 elections, representing Calw. In parliament, she served on the Committee on Internal Affairs (2018–2019), the Committee on the Digital Agenda (2013–2019), the Committee on Education, Research and Technology Assessment (2013–2017) and the Parliamentary Advisory Board on Sustainable Development (2013–2017).[2] In this capacity, she was her parliamentary group's rapporteur on privacy, IT security, digital education, and eGovernment.
Within her parliamentary group, Esken was part of working groups on digital issues (since 2014) and on consumer protection (since 2018) as well as of the Parlamentarische Linke (Parliamentary Left), an association of left-wing MPs.[3]
In the negotiations to form a coalition government under the leadership of Chancellor Angela Merkel following the 2017 federal elections, Esken was part of the working group on digital policy, led Helge Braun, Dorothee Bär, and Lars Klingbeil.
Co-Chair of the SPD, 2019–present
Together with Norbert Walter-Borjans, Esken announced her candidacy for the 2019 Social Democratic Party of Germany leadership election.[4] During her campaign, she vowed to force Chancellor Merkel and her CDU/CSU bloc to renegotiate the coalition treaty or push for an “orderly retreat” from the government.[5] Esken and Walter-Borjans won the November 2019 run-off against Klara Geywitz and Olaf Scholz.[6]
Shortly after, both Esken and Walter-Borjans stepped back from their threat to pull out of Merkel’s government and instead signed off on a “compromise”, calling for measures including a “massive” investment program and a minimum wage of 12 euros per hour.[7] At the time, this was widely interpreted as a move designed to mend relations between leftwing and centrist factions in the SPD.[8]
In August 2020, Esken and Walter-Borjans released a joint statement announcing Olaf Scholz as the party’s candidate to succeed Merkel in the 2021 elections.[9]
Other activities
Regulatory agencies
- Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railway (BNetzA), Member of the advisory board (since 2018)[10]
Non-profit organizations
- Stiftung Datenschutz, Member of the Strategic Advisory Board[11]
- Ein Netz für Kinder, Member of the Board of Trustees (since 2014)
- German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND), Member
- Greenpeace, Member
- German United Services Trade Union (ver.di), Member
- Federal Agency for Civic Education, Alternate Member of the Board of Trustees (2014-2018)
Political positions
In March 2019, Esken opposed the European Union's Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market and its article 13.[12]
Also in 2019, Esken called repeatedly for a renegotiation of the 2018 coalition treaty on issues such as government spending and climate change policy.[13]
Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Esken became the member of her Social Democrats’ leadership to call on Gerhard Schröder to quit the party when he kept defending his close ties to Russia’s leadership.[14][15]
During the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, in support of Israel's actions Esken announced that she had cancelled a meeting with American-Jewish US Senator, Bernie Sanders, over his stance on the war, which he said included war crimes on both sides. Esken wrote on Bluesky Social: “He (Sanders) would have had the chance to ... clearly stand on the side of Israel and against the terror of Hamas and others. But he doesn’t do that." In response, a Sanders staffer was quoted as saying, “Bernie had never heard of Saskia Esken, but I’m sure he would have been pleased to meet her.”[16]
On 1 May 2024, in an Interview with the Austrian television news broadcast Zeit im Bild (ORF), Esken described the Far-right Alternative for Germany as a Nazi Party and compared it to Joseph Goebbels. She said, they want to destroy democracy.[17][18]
Controversy
In mid-2020, the Berlin attorney general's office received hundreds of complaints accusing Esken of slander for using the term "Covidiots" on Twitter; Esken had said that protesters at a Berlin march threatened the health of others by violating social distancing rules and ignoring requirements to wear masks. The prosecutors dismissed the legal complaints, arguing that Esken was exercising her constitutional right to express her opinion.[19][20]
References
- ^ "Deutscher Bundestag - Saskia Esken".
- ^ "Baden-Württemberg MdB- Europa Union Deutschland". www.europa-union.de.
- ^ "Parlamentarische Linke - Unsere Mitglieder".
- ^ "Kandidatenrennen: Walter-Borjans und Esken wollen SPD-Vorsitzende werden". Der Spiegel. 28 August 2019 – via Spiegel Online.
- ^ Tobias Buck (5 December 2019), Germany’s SPD rows back from threat to quit Merkel coalition Financial Times.
- ^ Braun, Stefan (30 November 2019). "SPD-Basis entscheidet sich für das ganz große Experiment". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 30 November 2019.
- ^ Tobias Buck (5 December 2019), Germany’s SPD rows back from threat to quit Merkel coalition Financial Times.
- ^ Philip Oltermann (4 December 2019), Germany's SPD steps back from pulling plug on Merkel coalition The Guardian.
- ^ Guy Chazan (18 May 2022), Gerhard Schröder to be stripped of German parliamentary privileges Financial Times.
- ^ Members of the Advisory Board Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railway (BNetzA)
- ^ Advisory Board Stiftung Datenschutz.
- ^ "Upload-Filter? Ich trinke sowieso nur Espresso - Saskia Esken". www.saskiaesken.de (in German). Retrieved 30 November 2019.
- ^ Tobias Buck (30 November 2019), Blow to Merkel as leftwingers win SPD leadership Financial Times.
- ^ Geir Moulson (25 April 2022), German ex-Chancellor Schroeder urged to leave Scholz party Associated Press.
- ^ Guy Chazan (18 May 2022), Gerhard Schröder to be stripped of German parliamentary privileges Financial Times.
- ^ Sankara, Bhaskar. "German Social Democrat Leader Boycotts Bernie Over Palestine". Jacobin. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
- ^ "SPD-Chefin Esken vergleicht AfD in ZiB2 mit Goebbels". kurier.at. 2 May 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
- ^ Deutschland, RedaktionsNetzwerk (2 May 2024). "Saskia Esken bezeichnet AfD als "Nazi-Partei": SPD-Chefin in ORF-Interview über Verbot". www.rnd.de (in German). Retrieved 22 May 2024.
- ^ Michael Nienaber (2 September 2020), German SPD leader can call anti-lockdown protesters 'Covidiots': prosecutors Reuters.
- ^ Merlin Sugue (2 September 2020), German SPD leader allowed to call protesters ‘Covidiots,’ officials rule Politico Europe.
