He Called for Bas's Resignation — Now von Stetten Strikes Back

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents He Called for Bas's Resignation — Now von Stetten Strikes Back.

"The minister is no longer acceptable" – with this sentence, CDU Bundestag member Christian von Stetten triggered a wave on September 11 in the "Bild" newspaper that continued to reverberate well into October. He had called for the resignation of Federal Labor Minister Bärbel Bas (SPD) – and is now himself under fire. Instead of playing the matter down, the Christian Democrat is striking back.

A resignation call – and shortly afterward, a death

The matter has a timing twist that von Stetten is now exploiting for his own benefit. According to his own account, his criticism in "Bild" was directed at the pace of reform in the Labor Ministry – and came during a phase in which senior Union figures had complained to journalists that Bas was hardly ever in Berlin and was thereby holding up the reform process. On September 26, 2026, Bas suffered the death of her stepdaughter. Von Stetten writes in his newsletter: "Long before I knew what heavy loss Bärbel Bas had suffered in her family on September 26, 2026. The criticism was never directed at the person Bärbel Bas, but solely at the work in the ministry."

According to information from SPIEGEL, at least the leadership of the CDU and CSU knew that Bas's stepdaughter was already dying at that time. On October 12, Bas finally stepped down as Labor Minister – with the explanation that she needed time to process her loss.

Klingbeil called the behavior "shameful," Schwesig "inhumane"

The dispute between the coalition partners then escalated. Bas herself complained of personal attacks "also from the ranks of the coalition partner." SPD chairman Lars Klingbeil described the Union's behavior as "shameful" ("unanständig"). Even harsher was Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Minister-President Manuela Schwesig: she accused the Union of having behaved "inhumanely" toward Bas.

Von Stetten's counter-tally: Who is instrumentalizing whom?

The CDU politician – who represents the constituency of Schwäbisch Hall – Hohenlohe – is now defending himself with a precise counter-account. In his newsletter, he accuses Klingbeil, Schwesig, and SPD General Secretary Tim Klüssendorf of politically instrumentalizing the death in Bas's circle. His key sentence: "No CDU member of parliament and no journalist criticized Frau Bas or even called for her resignation as SPD party chair after her private concerns became known." Neither Klingbeil, Schwesig, nor Klüssendorf had been able to provide examples of attacks from the CDU after the bereavement became known.

The SPD has its own problems

Von Stetten is deliberately tapping into a debate that has been preoccupying the SPD itself since Bas's withdrawal: calls for resignation against the party's own leadership in recent months. "Sometimes it apparently seems easier to offload responsibility onto the political competitor than to openly discuss the pressure from within one's own ranks," he writes. Klingbeil wants to have the leadership newly elected at an early party convention. This means the power question in the SPD is also an internally directed one – and it is overlaying the dispute with the Union rather than resolving it.