German Green Party leaders resign over horrid local election results

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
25 Sep 2024 22:50
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Germany's Green Party is suffering a deep crisis after losing all of its seats in two eastern German states.

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Green Party leaders Omid Nouripour and Ricarda Lang announce their resignation in Berlin, Germany, on September 25, 2024. (AP)

The leaders of Germany's Green party have handed in their resignations after suffering defeats in local elections in the eastern German states of Saxony, Thuringia, and Brandenburg earlier.

Ricarda Lang, one of two Green leaders, said on Wednesday that "new faces are needed to lead the party out of this crisis."

Her co-chair Omid Nouripour echoed the statement, saying, "We have come to the conclusion that we need a new start."

The decisions were prompted by the latest defeat suffered by the party in Brandenburg.

"The results of Sunday’s elections in Brandenburg are proof of our party’s deepest crisis in a decade," Nouripour explained.

Far-right AfD, SPD make huge gains in elections

The Brandenburg state election saw the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) take the second largest share of seats, 23, after securing 23.5% of the vote, trailing the ruling Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) by only two seats.

On the other hand, the Green were dealt their biggest blow in local elections, losing all 10 of their seats in this election.

In Saxony, the Green faired slightly better, securing seven seats, but also lost all of their five seats in Thuringia.

Moreover, in the aforementioned state, the AfD took the lead over the conservative Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and the governing parties after securing almost a third of the vote in Thuringia. This marked the first win for the far-right in a state parliament election since WWII.

The results of Germany's 2021 Federal Election saw the Green Party become a key part of Chancellor Olaf Shcolz's government, securing five seats in his cabinet.

This includes the key roles of Vice Chancellor, occupied by Minister of Economy Robert Habeck, and the position of Minister of Foreign Affairs, which Annalena Baerbock holds.

Nationally, support for the Green has dropped by five points to 10% since the 2021 election.

The party has also suffered in the European Parliament election where it lost nine of its 21 seats.

Despite the resignation of Nouripour and Lang, Scholz believes that the German coalition party's work will not be affected.