The longtime Green politician Claudia Roth is applying again for a post in the Presidium of the Bundestag. “As a long-time parliamentarian, I also see it as my task to pass on my joy and passion for our democracy to this new generation, to pass on my experience and at the same time to constantly develop my own perspective and to take on and accept the many exciting new impulses,” writes Roth in a letter to the members of the group. First, the “Augsburger Allgemeine” reported on it (Wednesday), the letter is also available to the German Press Agency.
The now 66-year-old Roth was elected Vice President of the Bundestag for the first time in 2013 and was re-elected four years ago. Vice-presidents, for example, lead the plenary sessions. The President of the Bundestag is usually from the strongest parliamentary group, most recently from the CDU / CSU with Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU). According to parliamentary practice, the post would now have to go to the SPD, which became the strongest force in the federal election.
“If someone had told me 40 years ago that one day I would become Vice President of the German Bundestag, I would probably have declared him crazy,” writes Roth. “At that time we Greens were the anti-party party, we chained ourselves to nuclear power plants and were very skeptical about political institutions.” It was a long way from the street to parliament, from the movement to the party. “Today I am immensely proud to be able to represent such a colorful and diverse democracy.”