BERLIN, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- Former labor minister Andrea Nahles has been confirmed as the German Social Democrats' (SPD) new faction leader in the federal parliament (Bundestag) on Wednesday.
Nahles received the approval of 137 of SPD delegates after being proposed for the position by party leader Martin Schulz. Only 14 dissenting votes were cast. Minister of Health Hermann Groehe (CDU) will formally become Nahles' provisional successor at the Labor Ministry.
Originally, Schulz had intended to assume the post of parliamentary faction leader himself but was forced to back down as he struggled to maintain his grip on the SPD as party leader after Sunday's national elections.
Schulz was then dealt another blow in the appointment of a new chairman of the parliamentary faction to succeed Thomas Oppermann. The budget expert Carsten Schneider was able to secure the second most powerful position behind Nahles, while Schulz' preferred candidate SPD secretary general Hubertus Heil lost out.
Schneider belongs to the conservative wing of the SPD known as the "Seeheimer circle" which had threatened to block the appointment of the more left-leaning Nahles if it was not allowed to nominate the chairman of the parliamentary faction in turn.
Speaking to press on Wednesday, Opperman reiterated SPD's decision to return to the opposition benches after slumping to a post-war historical low (20.5 percent) in federal elections.
Heil was a close ally of Schulz on the campaign trail and will now retain his previous position of secretary general at the party leader's request. Whether Heil will remain active in the SPD's leadership beyond the reconstituting party conference in December is still unclear.
