Germany's SPD will hold party conference with leadership election, Klingbeil says

BERLIN, Oct 12 - German Finance Minister and Social Democratic Party co-leader Lars Klingbeil said on Monday that Germany needs a culture of mutual respect in politics and said the party will hold a federal party conference in December or January."We will hold a federal party conference, not a convention but a full federal party conference," Klingbeil said. "Following my proposal, the entire SPD leadership team will stand for election there, and a party leadership will be elected."This follows the resignation of Baerbel Bas, Germany's labour minister and co-head of the SPD, who said she had faced increasing "public attacks", including from members of the CDU/CSU conservative bloc, the SPD's coalition partners."We are competitors, and we need a culture of debate. But we also need a culture of mutual respect," Klingbeil said speaking to reporters. REUTERS