Social democrats in Germany suffered a big defeat whereas the Austrian social democrats were defeated in the polls. Last Sunday, social democrats again faced a defeat this time in Italy. However, considering the problems prevalent in Europe, social democracy was supposed to instill new hopes and become the winning party, instead of the defeated. But the situation is quite the opposite. Especially in the EU countries, the social democrats have recently caused the electorate a great disappointment.
In Germany, for instance, their condition is pathetic. They have been in a constant decline since their dramatic defeat at the elections held in September, 2017. Their vote shares are in decline as they are losing their electorate. The grand coalitions formed with Angela Merkel has not favored the social democrats so far. But currently they are in such a hopeless condition that they are confined to lose no matter if they form a grand coalition or become the opposition.
According to the results announced on Sunday, the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) will one more time form a coalition government with the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) alliance as 66 percent of the SPD members voted for the grand coalition. It is certainly a positive development that Germany will finally have a new government, but to what extent will the new government be in favor of the SPD? Only a few think that it will really favor the SPD.
The main problem does not stem from their position in the government or the opposition. They still do not have a charismatic figure who can run against Merkel although she has lost her former appeal. And this is not the only reason for their ineffectiveness. The political stance of the SPD is no longer very distinct. The untrustworthy rhetoric and empty promises of unpromising politicians cause the SPD to lose constantly.
However, having a history of more than 150 years, the SPD is supposed to have something to say about the future of Europe and offer answers to the current problems of Europe. Unfortunately, the party cannot offer such answers. Worse than that, they are defending some absurd agendas on several subjects. They cannot present concepts that promise plausible solutions to the economic problems experienced by the continent. Unlike the social democrat leaders of the past who had a certain vision about the future of the EU, the current social democrat politicians are not capable of assuring people about their future.
Although social democrats are required to adopt the most insightful stance with regard to the refugee issue, they are acting like they cannot do anything about the situation. In the best-case scenarios, they follow the actions of the Christian democrats. But even worse, some social democrats might look to increase their vote share with far-right slogans. In such a case, no reason remains to vote for a social democrat as they inconsistently adopt the "solutions" of the Christian democrats and the far-right slogans.
As for Turkey, the current social democrats seemingly do not wish to remember the fact that former social democrat leaders did their best for Turkey's accession to the EU. A number of social democrats display such a sharp stance against Turkey and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that they even outperform the anti-Turkey rhetoric of the far-right.
Lately, when a group of parliament members at the Bundestag showed off terror propaganda by wearing the People's Protection Units (YPG) scarfs, which is the armed wing of the outlawed PKK and its Syrian offshoot Democratic Union Party (PYD), an Alternative for Germany (AfD) member reacted to their protest by reminding them that the PKK is a heinous terror group, although the social democrats should have been the ones reacting against them as they always argue that they condemn terrorism.
Also, it is evident who provides the greatest support to the PYD and its former leader Salih Muslum in the EU countries. In such a picture, the social democrats are destined to lose in Germany, Austria and Italy.
By remaining silent and indifferent in the platforms where even an AfD member speaks against terror, the social democrats are undermining themselves. The social democrats think that they will earn success by standing against Turkey and Turkish President Erdoğan and denigrating Turkey's total war on terror must realize that they contradict the values of social democracy in so doing. Something can be changed when they come to this realization.
Hopefully they will realize this as soon as possible, since Europe is in need of social democrat names with a vision. Europe calls for a kind of social democracy that protects the Muslims in Europe, remains sensitive to the issue of attacked mosques and knows that Europe needs Turkey for a better future.