“Chancellor is sticking with her”
Faeser will probably remain minister even in the election debacle
October 8, 2023, 4:20 a.m
The SPD politician Faeser actually wants to become Prime Minister of Hesse. However, the polls do not show her bright prospects for today’s election. Even in the event of a bitter defeat, she should be allowed to keep her ministerial office in Berlin, according to government circles.
Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser is likely to remain Federal Minister of the Interior even in the event of an election defeat. This is reported by the Editorial Network Germany (RND), citing leading government circles. It was very clear that Chancellor Olaf Scholz would not replace his SPD party comrade, it was said. Faeser, for her part, did not receive any other signals.
All surveys indicate that the 53-year-old, who is running as the SPD’s top candidate in the Hessian state elections this Sunday, will clearly miss her goal of becoming Prime Minister. The SPD may not even manage to take second place. That’s why there had recently been speculation that she was becoming a burden for Scholz and could therefore be replaced.
However, there is no female replacement candidate for Faeser. But Scholz urgently needs this in order not to further impair the parity in the cabinet, which has already been disrupted since the hapless Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht was replaced by Boris Pistorius.
Problems and setbacks in the election campaign
Despite the support from the Chancellery, Faeser is under a lot of pressure before the election in Hesse. Your personal approval ratings are in the basement, as are those of the SPD. In surveys, the party is at 16 to 17 percent, the CDU at more than 30 percent. The SPD top candidate is undaunted. “I have a lot of confidence that we will win the state elections,” she emphasized in a recent interview. “Experience shows that there is still a lot that can be done.” But internally the mood is likely to have been more subdued for a long time.
In addition to the debate about increasing migration numbers, Faeser also suffered from setbacks in the election campaign. The Interior Minister is being criticized for the transfer of the former head of the Federal Office for Information Security, Arne Schönbohm, because of her alleged closeness to Russia. The Union is tackling them harshly; there is talk of bullying. Faeser sharply rejects this.
Faeser also recently had to stop an election video from her party on a social network in which her competitor Boris Rhein was accused of possible future collaboration with the AfD. This sparked sharp criticism. Rhein repeatedly emphasized the demarcation of the Hessian CDU from the AfD.