BERLIN, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Germany's Social Democrats will re-elect their entire leadership at a party congress around the turn of the year after labour minister and co-chair Baerbel Bas resigned, co-leader Lars Klingbeil said at a press conference in Berlin on Monday.
The decision forces the SPD, junior partner in Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition, into a leadership contest that will test Klingbeil's authority as he tries to steady a party hurt by recent state election losses while insisting it remains committed to Merz's government.
• Klingbeil said after the party's leadership board meeting in Berlin the congress would be held in December or January and elect the leadership.
• He said the SPD would keep its dual-chair model but did not say if he will run again, pledging to shape the new team.
• The leadership board backed his proposal to name former state premier Alexander Schweitzer as labour and social affairs minister, replacing Bas in the federal cabinet, Klingbeil said.
• Bas said she needed time to mourn her stepdaughter and could no longer fully perform her duties, while Klingbeil condemned recent attacks on her as poisoning political discourse.
• In a statement circulated on Monday, the SPD women's organisation criticised the choice of Schweitzer rather than a woman for the labour post, a concern Klingbeil said he took seriously.
(Reporting by Maria Martinez, writing by Kirsti KnolleEditing by Ludwig Burger)
