The gathering of some 500 delegates, coming about seven weeks after the Social Democratic Party (SPD) crashed out of power, is looking to overcome a crushing election setback and forge a united and coherent revival campaign that would battle Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Central in that campaign were promises to introduce a “wealth tax” while reducing the burden on middle-income earners.

The party's new leader, Sigmar Gabriel, said the outcome of the party congress in Dresden has been very positive.

"You have shown that those who thought we are finished were wrong,” Gabriel told delegates. “We have embarked on a new beginning for social-democratic politics in Germany.”

On Friday, the 50-year-old politician was elected to lead the Social Democrats at a time when morale among party members has hit rock bottom.

SPD members, who have been forced into the opposition, are hoping that the new man at the helm will be able to restore the party's stature and popularity among a disillusioned electorate.

Center-left split

Gabriel said there had not been much room for an open confrontation on various issues in the past, which has led to strengthened factions within the party and undermined unity.

Large divisions between centrists and those on the left-wing of the party still remain, and have led many voters to shift their support to the opposition Greens or the Left party, successor to the East German communist party.

Klaus Ernst, vice-chairman of the Left party, described the SPD’s call for a wealth tax as “unbelievable.”

“The SPD had 11 years while they were in government to adopt a wealth tax and they didn’t lift a finger,” he said. “The core problem with the SPD is and remains the lack of credibility in their leadership.”

Revamping party policies

Many speakers at the meeting in Dresden blamed their defeat on Germany's decision to raise the retirement age from 65 to 67, a welfare rollback which the SPD supported while it was part of a so-called "grand coalition" with Merkel’s Christian Democratic Party (CDU).

The new SPD leadership proposed that the party come out against the higher retirement age, without actually demanding that it be restored to 65.

Many delegates also called for a firm anti-nuclear stance, opposing efforts by the new Merkel government – currently in coalition with the business-friendly Free Democrats – to keep nuclear power stations in operation beyond their phase-out date.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the former foreign minister, who made an unsuccessful bid for the chancellery and is now floor leader of the SPD in the Bundestag or lower house of parliament, promised robust opposition to Merkel in legislative debates and said he was sure the party would recover from the massive blow dealt by voters.

"The party has shown it is alive," he said.

rb/acb/AFP/AP/dpa
Editor: Rick Demarest