Further turbulence

Green Youth leadership wants to leave the party

(Bild: AFP )

Further turbulence in the Green Party in Germany: the executive committee of the Green Youth wants to leave the party as one. This was announced in a letter on Wednesday by Svenja Appuhn and Katharina Stolla, the leaders of the Green youth organization. "As you may have already heard, we - the entire federal board of the Green Youth - have decided not to run for office again and to leave the party tomorrow," it says.

Appuhn and Stolla went on to write that the decision to leave the party had already been made "in the last few weeks", i.e. before the announcement of the resignation of the Greens' national executive committee on Wednesday. Their letter is addressed to the outgoing party chairpersons Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour as well as the chairpersons of the parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Katharina Dröge and Britta Haßelmann.

"It is better if we part ways now"
Appuhn and Stolla explained that the resignation of the Green Party executive board "undoubtedly demonstrates human greatness". However, they continued: "We do not assume that a personnel reshuffle will lead to a substantive and strategic realignment of the party in our interests. It is better if we part ways now and you can make a good new start."

Lang and Nouripour, as well as the entire Green Party executive, announced their resignation on Wednesday. After a series of poor election results, the Greens were "in the deepest crisis in a decade", Nouripour said, explaining the drastic step. A "new start" was needed to lead the party out of this crisis.