Wolfgang Schäuble has to vacate his post as President of the Bundestag because the Union is no longer the strongest parliamentary group in the Bundestag.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin For days, the SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich has been named as a possible successor to Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU) as President of the Bundestag. “Every parliamentarian, including me, is honored to be acted for the office of President of the Bundestag,” Mützenich recently stated. But whether he really gets the train is not clear.
The only thing that is certain so far is that Schäuble will have to vacate his post because the Union is no longer the strongest parliamentary group in the Bundestag. Mützenich has a prominent supporter on his side in SPD leader Norbert Walter-Borjans. What bothers many social democrats, however, is that with the possible Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the highest political posts would all be occupied by SPD men.
Time is of the essence, because the Bundestag presidium is to be re-elected on Tuesday. For the women in the SPD, the matter is already clear. There must be a successor for Schäuble, “said the chairwoman of the working group of social democratic women, Maria Noichl, the editorial network Germany. “The SPD’s future program calls for the decade of equality,” said Noichl. “These words call for action. Therefore, the position of President of the Bundestag must be filled with a woman. ”
The fact that the debate is currently only focusing on the office of President of Parliament and not on the Federal President, whose first term ends in February 2022, is primarily due to Steinmeier. The social democrat is held in high regard across all parties.
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The Liberals announced their support for another term in office for Steinmeier before the general election. The vast majority of citizens would also like him to remain Federal President. In addition, many are reluctant to make the election of the Federal President a bargaining chip in coalition talks.
Two SPD women as Schäuble successors in conversation
“The new beginning we are striving for then begins with a lack of style that damages not only the well-accepted Steinmeier, but also the office,” said the Passau political scientist Heinrich Oberreuter the Handelsblatt. “The office of the President of Parliament seems more accessible to political trade, if only because it is very close to political activity,” added Oberreuter.
From his point of view, it is “easier and better to find arguments that speak for a woman or for the occupation by one of the two coalition partners”. Oberreuter believes that there are some arguments in favor of leaving Mützenich in his previous position, “especially since the new SPD parliamentary group will be burdened with clear integration problems due to the large number of Jusos and leftists”.
In the SPD parliamentary group there are “competent and great women,” said Social Democrat Noichl. “We do not accept the well-known excuse that no woman would be found.”
There is a catch, however. Among the experienced parliamentary group members, a woman does not necessarily suggest the post of President of the Bundestag. Although the SPD parliamentary group has a comparatively high quota of women at 42 percent, many of them are still young or have just entered parliament.
So far, the name of parliamentary group vice-president Bärbel Bas, who is now negotiating the topics of health and care in the traffic light talks, has often been mentioned. Aydan Özoğuz is also traded as a possible Schäuble successor. The 54-year-old has been in the Bundestag since 2009, was already deputy party and parliamentary group chairman and for several years Minister of State for Integration in the Chancellery. Özoguz has a good relationship with Olaf Scholz, who once brought her into active politics as head of the Hamburg SPD. As a member of the Bundestag, however, she has not made any major appearances.
The 54-year-old has been in the Bundestag since 2009.
(Photo: imago images / Political-Moments)
In the debate about Schäuble’s successor, the SPD could come under pressure for another reason. The fact that the three highest state offices could hold three social democrats in the future “certainly arouses desires among the Greens and the FDP,” said Bremen political scientist Lothar Probst.
When electing the President of the Bundestag, he could imagine “that the Greens would throw their hats into the ring with a woman as a suggestion and not simply accept Mützenich”. The FDP will possibly “support such a proposal by the Greens at the coalition talks and be compensated for by other prominent offices”.
The Social Democrats do not have much time left to clarify Schäuble’s successor. Next Tuesday, the new Bundestag will meet for the first time for its constituent session.
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