The SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich has proposed setting up a citizens’ council and a commission with representatives from politics, science and administration to deal with the corona pandemic.
In the citizens’ assembly, randomly selected people of all ages and from different social backgrounds should first describe their experiences with the pandemic and use them to develop recommendations for the future, Mützenich told the German Press Agency. These results should then be incorporated into the work of a newly created commission, which should also include representatives from states and municipalities.
“It’s about social cohesion”
“The Commission should consciously link the pandemic response to the social realities and challenges at regional, national and European levels over a period of around four years beyond the legislative period,” said Mützenich. “We hope that such a process will enable us to organize the process of dealing with the pandemic close to the people, take up their experiences, combine them with the findings from politics and administration and draw the right political conclusions from them. For us, it’s about social cohesion.”
At the end of March, the online magazine “Multipolar” made public the partially redacted protocols of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) crisis team from the early days of the pandemic. As a result, calls for a review of state policy to contain the corona pandemic with tens of thousands of deaths in Germany became louder. Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) recently announced that the documents should be redacted in order to create more transparency.
Mützenich: Cover all areas of society
Mützenich told the dpa that the SPD wanted to “achieve a comprehensive and holistic approach to the pandemic – beyond party political perspectives.” It is important to cover all areas of society and to record the successes and problems in the fight against the pandemic in order to then draw lessons from them.
In the healthcare system, work-up is already underway. Many positive developments have resulted from this, for example in digitalization and the strengthening of the public health service. However, the pandemic has affected practically all areas of life – from childcare in families, schools and universities to culture, the economy and companies.
“We got through well in many places, but there were also decisions that caused injuries, some of which had long-term effects,” said Mützenich. Many of those affected wanted to report on their experiences so that consequences could be drawn. “We want to make this possible.”
