Chancellor spokeswoman remains vague
Scholz expresses confidence in Spiegel
4/11/2022 1:51 p.m
With her statement on Sunday evening, Family Minister Spiegel failed to dispel demands for his resignation. But only Chancellor Scholz could dismiss her. He now has a spokeswoman say something.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz is holding back from the Greens in the debate about family minister Anne Spiegel. When asked several times by journalists, deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann only said that the chancellor was working “closely and trustingly with her.” She was asked whether Scholz saw a reason for resignation in Spiegel’s performance on Sunday evening.
The events currently being discussed coincided with the time when Spiegel was a minister in Rhineland-Palatinate, the spokeswoman said. “As far as cooperation in the government is concerned, the Chancellor appreciates the minister and works closely and trustingly with her.” Scholz “of course” saw Spiegel’s statement on Sunday evening, said Hoffmann. “I can say that this performance also moved and affected him personally.” That was a very impressive performance in human terms.
The Greens did not comment on Spiegel’s future until Monday afternoon when asked by dpa. According to the “Bild” report, after a meeting, the party leaders Omid Nouripour, Ricarda Lang, Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Economics Minister Robert Habeck and the parliamentary group leaders Britta Haßelmann and Katharina Dröge unanimously agreed that the minister should resign. However, Spiegel rejected this. The party cannot dismiss her, only Chancellor Scholz could. “Zeit” reported online that Spiegel had also concealed from her party her controversial vacation after the flood disaster in the Ahr Valley.
Visibly moving statement
On Sunday evening, Spiegel then went before the press and apologized for the vacation. Visibly moved and on the verge of tears, she explained the background to her decision at the time to go on vacation to France for four weeks ten days after the flood disaster. The Rhineland-Palatinate Minister of the Environment at the time mentioned her extensive professional commitments, combined with her husband’s health problems and the burdens on her family with four small children caused by the corona pandemic.
Spiegel has been Minister for Family Affairs in Rhineland-Palatinate since 2016; She was also her party’s top candidate for the state elections in March 2021. In January 2021 she also took over as managing director of the environment department. When the new state government was formed in May 2021, she gave up the family department and became the regular Minister for the Environment. The flood disaster in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia occurred in mid-July 2021. After the federal elections in autumn, Spiegel became Federal Minister for Family Affairs.