The SPD in Rhineland-Palatinate is continuing its structural reform and is relieving its regional offices of routine tasks such as membership administration.
The around 50 employees in the nine offices should have more time for the local elections in 2024 and for recruiting new members, said SPD Secretary General Marc Ruland of the German Press Agency in Mainz. This also includes personal contact with social democrats who want to leave the party. The processing and checking of statements of account would be shifted to an SPD service center in Dortmund from January. The membership administration should follow in a second step in the spring.
The SPD also wants to strengthen “hybrid events” and acquire the technology for the SPD sub-districts. The aim is to be able to come together at a large table and broadcast this virtually. “Then not everyone has to drive through sometimes large districts and work and family can be better reconciled,” said Ruland. And: “You meet and are not just online.” This format was a great wish from the area.
The SPD had passed the structural reform at a state party conference in Idar-Oberstein at the beginning of July. In two stages, 65 percent (plus ten percentage points) of the membership fees will remain with the national association and ten percent each with the local associations and sub-districts. The rest goes to the federal party and the party newspaper “Vorwarts”. The party congresses are to be reduced from the current 423 representatives to 323. The party put the number of members at around 30,500 at the end of the third quarter of 2022.
