At the age of 28 Ricarda Lang wants to become one of two new Greens chairmen. In the ntv.de interview, she talks about her goals as party leader, about the new role of the Greens as the ruling party and about the not that easy process of assigning ministerial posts.
At the age of 28 Ricarda Lang wants to become one of two new Greens chairmen. In the ntv.de interview, Lang talks about her goals as party leader, about the new role of the Greens as the ruling party and about the not that easy process of assigning ministerial posts.
ntv.de: You were very touched when you, as a new member of the Bundestag, watched the swearing-in of the five Federal Green Ministers. How so?
Ricarda Lang: To be there was never mapped out for me. My mother was a single parent and worked as a social worker in the women’s shelter. She lost her job when I was 18 years old because the women’s refuge was cut off. I saw how she had to fight for everything, including every single chance for her daughter. She made so much possible for me and I am so grateful to her. For me, this experience is a mission to ensure that families like mine don’t always have to fight for everything. As a member of the Bundestag and – if the delegates give me the opportunity – also as party chairman, I will work every day to ensure equal opportunities for all children.
From simple circumstances to the Bundestag: This story is more familiar from other parties. Is your promotion to the Greens a signal to the outside world?
I see it that way, yes. Far too few people have heard from us what led me to this party: We have always stood up for justice and have been well positioned in this area for a long time. We introduced basic child benefits into the coalition talks, which the traffic light is now implementing, and developed concepts for a modern labor market policy. We think the concept of justice across generations because we also look to the future. That’s what defines us.
Do the Greens still have some catching up to do to convey this more effectively to the outside world?
We have opened up in recent years. We have shown that we are not only a party to climate protection, but also, for example, stand for economic, financial and social issues, for the socio-ecological transformation. But I noticed in the federal election campaign that we still have to build trust, especially with people in rural areas and with people who are more afraid of the end of the month than the end of the planet. We must succeed in this in the coming years, from within the government and from within the party.
They want to take on significant responsibility for this and run for chairmanship alongside Omid Nouripour. What are you going to do?
We are facing a huge task: in the government we want to implement our promises from basic child security to the coal phase-out. As a party, we have to think beyond everyday government, work on the profile of the content and convince even more people. I want to use what I bring to serve this cause.
What do you bring with you?
I’m good at bringing people together across existing rifts and working out common solutions. I have clear political convictions and am passionate about the matter. We need this mixture now: a clear compass and at the same time cooperative and inspiring. In addition, I am ready to learn something new, which is not a matter of course in politics.
If you are elected, you will be 28 years old and know nothing but politics. Is that a disadvantage for this huge task?
It’s about having the right idea at the right time. I just have good ideas about how the party can position itself for the period in office and beyond. Of course, it takes people with different life experiences. I therefore want to work to ensure that we represent diverse perspectives in parliament and in the party. For this, however, it is important that there is no one right type of politician or one right type of chairman. If we pretend it exists, it will deter many people from assuming political responsibility.
In fact, the top Greens are much more homogeneous than their reputation: very white, very academic and rather hetero-normative. Do you want to change that?
We have made very good progress over the past few years. But when it comes to people with a migration background, for example, or people who work in a trade, then we still have something to do. I don’t want to gloss over that, I want to change it.
The Greens are entering a new phase. You will probably have to explain to the grassroots more than once why compromises are repeatedly made in the federal government.
Of course, one of our tasks will be to communicate with the party and with our allies about what is happening in the government and why. And we will in turn carry the wishes and ideas of these people into everyday government, as well as the reality of the climate crisis or other social challenges. I see it as the party’s responsibility to maintain honesty and transparency. Addressing points that we were unable to enforce in the coalition agreement and saying that we have to keep working on them will be another task.
There will possibly also be conflicts between the party and its federal ministers. Can you fight it out with Foreign Minister Baerbock and Vice-Chancellor Habeck at eye level?
Yes. For the past few years I have worked on an equal footing with Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck. Mutual respect made us strong. Everyone knows that we can only implement what we have set out to do if we work as a team between the government, parliamentary group and party.
Do you share the thesis that of all parties involved, the Greens will quarrel most with their role in the federal government?
Now we rightly have very high demands on ourselves. After 16 years of opposition there are great expectations, for example from many women for whom very little has been done during this time. First of all, it’s a great pleasure that we can finally implement our ideas. That will be four good years for the Greens.
But you have tough debates ahead of you. I am thinking, for example, of the acquisition of armed drones for the German Armed Forces that is stipulated in the coalition agreement. Do you want to represent the many compromises in the party?
I can advocate that the contents of the coalition agreement are implemented. The party voted 86 percent for the coalition agreement. This is a clear mandate for our core concerns, such as the expansion of renewable energies. But that is also a mandate to implement the points for which we approached our partners.
In the Bundestag election, your previous chairmen lagged significantly behind the goal of becoming a people’s and chancellor’s party. What does this claim mean with a view to the four state elections in the coming year?
This claim was and is not an end in itself. Combining climate neutrality with social justice and good future prospects for people, what we mean by the term social-ecological transformation, is a mammoth task. In order to shape this, we need broad support from society. Working out that remains our goal – in the state elections and beyond.
Above all, in the state elections you have to win more support in the country, which Robert Habeck and Annalena Baerbock did not succeed in doing. How can this be done?
We achieved a lot in the Bundestag election and some not. We want to learn from this now. Politicians have to get away from playing off urban and rural areas against each other, for example when it comes to traffic. While Münster, for example, is on the way to a car-free city center, my constituency Backnang-Schwäbisch Gmünd is about how one can even enable freedom of choice between cars and local public transport. In addition, there is the question of services of general interest in the country, be it the public swimming pool, the school bus offer or a nearby, properly equipped police station. When people have the feeling that the state is withdrawing from their region, trust crumbles.
The duo Baerbock and Habeck had to endure some relationship tests during the election campaign. How can you and Mr. Nouripur work together better?
Omid Nouripour and I like each other. That sounds banal, but it’s worth a lot in politics. That made Annalena and Robert strong too. We’re both very honest people. Our style could be confidential and cooperative, always focusing on what we want to achieve. Robert and Annalena have built a strong foundation. It is important to build on this in the team.
With the two of you, the classic division returns, according to which a left and a real represent the wing of the party at the top. Is the project of burying the wings finished?
If we are elected, we will both – I take the liberty of speaking for Omid – be chairmen for the whole party with its 125,000 members and not just for individual parts of it.
The wing proportion had also played a role in the dispute over the occupation of federal ministers. It was sometimes rough. Was that the moment when the Greens had to admit to themselves and the public that they were even a party with ambitious professional politicians?
The problem was that we had more good professional politicians than we had to fill. It is normal in politics that personal ambitions play a certain role. It would be dishonest to deny that. What is politically important, i.e. how we can improve people’s lives, must always take precedence over personal interests. And that’s the case with us.
Do you and Mr Nouripour need to heal any remaining wounds?
The situation was anything but easy and there were disappointments too. It is important, however, that you can continue to look respectfully into each other’s eyes. We can all do that. Because now it is our common goal to shape the future.
How do you explain that Cem Oezdemir became Minister of Agriculture even though he never dealt with the subject and not Toni Hofreiter?
Cem Özdemir has the ability to build bridges in areas of society where there are some reservations about the Greens. So far, the Greens have not necessarily been applauded at Farmers’ Day. It is very valuable now to have someone who will work with the farmers to create a secure perspective for the farms and the transformation to better animal welfare and climate protection.
You speak about your bisexuality yourself. You experience hostility because of your weight, because you are a woman and young. Should these characteristics even be the subject of media or public debates?
They can be political if you derive a political claim from them. I do that, for example, when I campaign that we better protect queer people from violence. But that’s not what defines me as a politician. As a politician, I am not a collection of identity traits, but what I want to achieve, what I have in terms of goals, wishes and maybe also mistakes.
Are you prepared for having to endure even more personal hostility as the chairperson?
I know what I’m getting myself into and I feel well prepared.
The interview with Ricarda Lang was conducted by Sebastian Huld