The two chairmen Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour announced their withdrawal from the party leadership on Wednesday. “We have come to the conclusion: a new start is needed,” said Nouripour on Wednesday in Berlin. “The election result on Sunday in Brandenburg is a testimony to the deepest crisis our party has faced in a decade,” emphasized Nouripour.
“New faces are now needed to lead the party out of this crisis,” said co-party leader Ricarda Lang. The election of a new board should be a “building block for the strategic realignment of this party.” Lang added: “Now is not the time to stick to the chair – now is the time to take responsibility and we are taking that responsibility by enabling a fresh start.”
The board will remain in office until the new election
In addition to Lang and Nouripour, the previous Green board also includes the deputy party chairmen Pegah Edalatian and Heiko Knopf, managing director Emily Büning and federal treasurer Frederic Carpenter. According to Lang’s information, the board will remain in office until the new elections at the party conference in November in Wiesbaden.
Lang and Nouripour have led the party since the beginning of 2022. They would normally be in office until at least the end of 2024. They did not comment on her successor. According to media reports, State Secretary for Economic Affairs Franziska Brantner and Bundestag member Felix Banaszak are in discussion. Brantner is a close confidante of Economics Minister Robert Habeck, who could lead the Greens into the next federal election as their candidate for chancellor. Banaszak was formerly leader of the Green Party in North Rhine-Westphalia and is an important mastermind of the left wing.
“Great service to the party”
The German Economics Minister and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck described the announced resignation of the Green party executive as a “great service to the party”. “This step shows great strength and foresight. Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour prove what the party chairmanship means to them: responsibility. They clear the way for a powerful new beginning. This cannot be taken for granted, it is a great service to the party.” said Habeck.
Habeck continued: “There are tough months behind us, the Greens were completely in the headwind.” The defeats in the last elections were undisputedly influenced by the national trend. “We all have responsibility here, including me. And I too want to face it.”
The Greens want to decide in the fall whether they will send a candidate for chancellor into the race in next year’s federal election or whether they will only run with a top candidate. The decision is expected to be made before the federal party conference, which will take place in Wiesbaden in mid-November. After Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that she doesn’t want to be at the top this time, everything comes down to Habeck.
“I want an open debate at the party conference about a possible candidacy and an honest vote in a secret ballot,” said Habeck. The party conference in November will now be the place “where the Greens will reorganize and reposition themselves in order to then begin the race to catch up to the federal election with renewed vigor.”
Heavy losses in past elections
The Greens suffered heavy losses in the European elections in June and in the state elections in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg in September.
The SPD chairmen Saskia Esken and Lars Klingbeil thanked the resigned Green Party leadership for their cooperation. “We have always discussed and clarified things together at the top of our two parties in a reliable and trusting manner,” it said in a joint statement. “Despite some differences in content, this partnership was very pleasant because it was also humanly resilient.” We would therefore like to thank Nouripour and Lang “from the bottom of our hearts”. They do not make any statements about possible effects on the traffic light coalition made up of the SPD, Greens and FDP.
Sign of traffic light breakdown
Meanwhile, the parliamentary managing director of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Thorsten Frei, sees the change at the top of the Green Party as a sign of the collapse of the traffic light coalition. “The centrifugal forces in traffic lights continue to increase,” said the CDU politician on Wednesday. “With the resignation of the entire Green Party leadership, the coalition is crumbling in front of the cameras.”
Right now, Germany cannot afford a further loss of ability to govern, said Frei. “Instead of sliding into a week-long stalemate, courageous decisions would be necessary,” demanded the MP. The people in the country expected answers to the worsening economic crisis. “And they demand a U-turn in migration policy.”
This article was last published on September 25th. updated at 12:00 p.m.
