Berlin Politicians from the Greens and FDP have asked Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) to make a decision about their political future. Faeser must “quickly clarify the speculation about her possible top candidacy in Hesse,” said the first parliamentary director of the Greens parliamentary group, Irene Mihalic, to the Handelsblatt.
If she no longer remains Minister of the Interior, “there must be no long deadlock in this important house in times of war in Europe and multiple crises”. The election campaign and the management of the ministry are “difficult to imagine together given the many difficult challenges,” stressed Mihalic.
The FDP Federal Deputy Wolfgang Kubicki also sees a need for clarification as to whether Faeser wants to leave the cabinet early in order to lead the Hessian SPD in the state election campaign next year. “Of course, the impression should not be created that we will have a Federal Minister of the Interior on call in the next few weeks,” Kubicki told the Handelsblatt.
But the SPD has to figure that out for itself. Each coalition partner decides for itself on the staffing of its departments. Nevertheless, a possible cabinet reshuffle “must not be at the expense of the ability of the interior department to work”.
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So far, Faeser has not committed himself to questions about her political future in the federal government and in Hesse. A ministry spokesman told the Handelsblatt about the rumors of change: “The Federal Minister of the Interior is doing her job with full force in order to fulfill the major domestic political tasks.”
Faeser’s environment said that the decision on a possible top candidate had not yet been made and that it would only be made in February. Then the Hessian SPD wants to announce which top personnel they will use in the 2023 state elections.
Many in the Hessian SPD are hoping for Faeser
The deputy head of the Union parliamentary group, Andrea Lindholz (CSU), also demanded that Faeser now “immediately” provide clarity. “This month-long hanging game is an impertinence for our country and the ministry,” Lindholz told the Handelsblatt. Faeser should not have taken over the ministerial post if she wanted to give it up again just a year later.
“The Federal Ministry of the Interior is a central security guarantor in Germany, not a vicarious agent for social democratic career plans,” emphasized the CSU politician. The interior ministry needs “a powerful and credible leadership, not a minister on call”.
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Faeser is currently under a lot of pressure. In addition to security in cyberspace, the protection of critical infrastructure in Germany and civil protection, many migration policy issues determine the Minister’s agenda. In its coalition agreement, the traffic light coalition agreed on a “new beginning in migration and integration policy”.
Since then, the minister has tirelessly pushed the issues forward. Faeser attracted a lot of criticism, including from the FDP, with her plans for the rapid naturalization of foreigners.
But it is uncertain whether she will complete her plans. For months, Faeser has been traded in Wiesbaden as the most promising candidate for the top candidacy to compete against Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU) and Economics Minister Tarek Al-Wazir from his green coalition partner.
Boris Rhein (right) and Tarek Al-Wazir visit the Hessian police squadron together.
(Photo: IMAGO/Patrick Scheiber)
Many in the Hessian SPD are hoping for Faeser. Also because the election campaign with topics of internal and social security was tailored to the SPD politician as Minister of the Interior, as the state party announced.
Defense Minister Lambrecht is fueling exchange speculation about Faeser
At the beginning of May, Faeser was re-elected as state party leader at a state party conference in Marburg with 94.3 percent. Shortly before her election, the 51-year-old said that even if she was in Berlin a lot in the new office of Interior Minister, nothing had changed: “My heart is in Hesse.”
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) already commented on the question of a possible top candidate for Faeser last year when he presented the SPD ministers for his cabinet. “It’s clear,” Scholz said at the time, “a cabinet post is being filled here, that’s what’s at stake now and that’s being taken care of. That’s something that needs to be pursued with a long-term perspective.” And all other questions would be decided in Hesse when they were ready.
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Faeser’s move to the top of the Federal Ministry of the Interior came as a surprise: many observers at the time had guessed that today’s Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) was the first woman to hold this office. It was also Lambrecht who fueled speculation about Faeser in May with the words: “I’m counting on Nancy Faeser not only becoming the top candidate, but also the first female Prime Minister in Hesse.”
The chairmen of the police union (GdP) and the federal police union, Jochen Kopelke and Heiko Teggatz, are counting on Faeser to position himself clearly on the Hesse question very soon. This is “of utmost importance” for the police officers, GdP boss Kopelke told the Handelsblatt. “We should face the really serious domestic political challenges that we are facing in this country with clarity.”
Teggatz also expects a reaction from the minister. “The leadership of the Federal Police, the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution certainly expect that, since police strategies are based on political decisions,” he told the Handelsblatt.
In addition, if Faeser changes, the decision to fill the position must be clarified “at this very moment”. “We cannot afford a vacuum at the highest level of internal security.” The threat situation is “far too concrete in many respects” for that. Kopelke also advocates “clearing the ship”. “Anything else would not be acceptable in view of the crises to be managed.”
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