Criticism of double role
Faeser gets backing from the FDP
02/04/2023, 03:00
Nancy Faeser wants to campaign as the SPD’s top candidate in Hesse while she heads the Federal Ministry of the Interior. The decision is controversial, at least outside the SPD. Prominent liberals defend the move.
Prominent FDP politicians have defended Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser against criticism of her top candidate in the state elections in Hesse. The social democrat wants to keep her post in the cabinet until the fall elections and also in the event of an election defeat. Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann told the newspapers of the Funke media group that the blanket statement that someone should not stand for election because they hold a state office “I do not think is conducive to liberal democracy”. The topics that are said to have been left unanswered should be specifically named.
FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr told the editorial network Germany (RND): “In the past, politicians have also run for office. Angela Merkel was even Chancellor at the same time. The Hessian Prime Minister, who is also running for office, feels the same way.” Dürr referred to the former Chancellor and the current Prime Minister of Hesse, Boris Rhein (both CDU). Despite her top candidacy, Faeser must continue to be fully represented as minister, stressed Dürr. “There are big tasks in your ministry, for example in migration policy. The candidacy should not harm that.”
Through template for Union
The Hessian SPD had appointed Faeser as their top candidate for the state election campaign on Friday. She had already made her intention public in Berlin the day before that she wanted to become the first woman prime minister in her home state. At the end of 2021, the 52-year-old moved from state politics to the cabinet of the traffic light coalition as Federal Minister of the Interior. The criticism was sparked, among other things, by the fact that Faeser’s authority is based in Berlin and partly also in Bonn, but as the top candidate in the state election campaign she has to show a presence in Hesse.
For Union politicians in particular, Faeser’s announcement provided a steep template: “From now on, there’s an election campaign. This office doesn’t tolerate a part-time minister,” said Alexander Throm, the interior expert for the Union faction in the Bundestag. The Greens also expressed skepticism. At the beginning of the week, the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” reported on Faeser’s planned dual role. Criticism also came from the FDP: The Federal Ministry of the Interior is “not a suitable campaign platform in these serious times,” said party Vice President Wolfgang Kubicki.