Berlin Economics and Climate Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) already had a full agenda when he appeared in front of the cameras with Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) on Thursday morning. Wind power in Bavaria was on the agenda, as well as the strict expansion targets for renewable energies.
Nevertheless, Habeck could not avoid commenting on the investigations against him and the rest of the Green party executive that became known on Wednesday evening. When asked whether the mistakes of the past keep catching up with him, he said that the events had already been “played over several times” during the election campaign. One cooperates fully with the public prosecutor’s office, there is nothing more to say.
However, it will only become clear in the coming days whether the matter can actually be dismissed as easily as Habeck would like. The investigations by the Berlin judiciary against the six members of the federal executive board because of special payments of 1,500 euros seem like a trifle compared to the sum of money. You come for the party but in an already difficult time.
In the coming week, the Greens will elect a new board. It is conceivable that the frustration of the base, which has accumulated in the past few weeks, will be released there. The pro-nuclear EU taxonomy supported by the federal government recently caused irritation. In addition, Ricarda Lang, the previous co-chairman, wants to move up to the party leadership, which is now also the focus of the judiciary.
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And last but not least, the events overshadow the start of the central green leaders of the traffic light coalition. The investigations are directed not only against Minister and Vice Chancellor Habeck, but also against his Parliamentary State Secretary Michael Kellner, who was previously the Federal Secretary, as well as against Foreign Minister and co-party leader Annalena Baerbock.
“Not the idealists they are often thought to be”
“The Greens are not the idealists they are often considered to be,” Manfred Güllner, head of the opinion research institute Forsa, told the Handelsblatt. Of course, the amount of 1500 euros is not the highest. But it is about the fact that on the one hand they like to preach morality, but on the other hand they use all possible tricks.
There is unrest in the party in view of the events. So far, leading Greens have been silent and at most have spoken behind closed doors. From Baerbock’s environment it is said that the allegations themselves could not be dangerous for the Greens, but how they are dealt with. Habeck’s somewhat annoyed reaction when he appeared in Munich on Thursday suggests that this realization has apparently not yet reached the Greens board.
The fact that the media made the investigation known and not the party executive is reminiscent of mistakes from the past and a lack of transparency in dealing with them. They already cost the Greens the lead in the polls and the prospect of the chancellor’s office during the federal election campaign.
The additional income from special payments, which is now being investigated, was not made public last year by the party, but by the “Bild” newspaper. Then there was criticism because Baerbock and her party had to correct misleading information in the CV of the chancellor candidate at the time.
And finally there were the allegations of plagiarism against Baerbock: Instead of dealing with the mistakes openly, the Greens talked for weeks about an alleged campaign against the party, while new copied passages kept coming to light. Habeck promised at the time that they would “fix the errors”. The motto: “With serenity and strength.”
Political scientist Oberreuter recommends restraint
Political scientist Heinrich Oberreuter at least does not believe that the investigations could have serious legal consequences. “The party law is largely silent on the internal financial situation of parties,” he told the Handelsblatt. “In addition, the question arises as to who else should have decided on the small special payment – a member survey?”
He therefore does not think that the allegation of infidelity will be substantiated – and advises restraint. “This story is not worth casting any doubt on the political integrity of any party,” he said. “This only reinforces reservations about parties as a political institution overall.”
Party lawyer Martin Morlok also thinks all the excitement is unnecessary. “The information that all employees in the office have received the special payment is very important,” Morlok told the Handelsblatt. “So it wasn’t the case that only the Greens federal executive shoveled it into their own pockets.”
Just because you’re a top politician doesn’t mean you have to give up what everyone else gets. The party lawyer also does not consider the amount of the payment to be scandalous: “When bonuses are mentioned, it is about much higher sums.”
The public prosecutor is obliged to investigate the matter. Morlok says: “It will probably end like the Hornberger shooting and the proceedings will be discontinued.”
Pollster Güllner also does not believe that the Greens would be harmed politically. “Not with their supporters and the Greens don’t come anywhere near a people’s party anyway.” The wave of outrage is now high, but also quickly forgotten.
More important for their reputation among the general public is how successfully the ministers of the traffic light government work, especially the still party leaders Baerbock and Habeck. Güllner recalled the ex-Greens foreign minister Joschka Fischer, whom the vast majority of the population rejected as foreign minister shortly before the 1998 election, but who was later recognized by all parties.
More: Suspicion of infidelity: prosecutors are investigating against the Greens board around Baerbock and Habeck