Essen (dpa / lnw) - The Greens parliamentary group in the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament has a new dual leadership: The previous parliamentary group leader Verena Schäffer was re-elected at a parliamentary group meeting in Essen on Thursday with 32 out of 39 votes, as a parliamentary group spokeswoman announced. The new co-chairwoman at her side is Wibke Brems: With 20 votes, she narrowly defeated the agricultural expert Norwich Rüsse.
Schäffer has headed the parliamentary group since 2020 - initially together with Josefine Paul, who has been Minister for Children, Youth, Family, Equality, Flight and Integration since June. Paul's successor, Wibke Brems, was previously deputy parliamentary group leader and parliamentary group manager.
Since Thursday, the parliamentary group manager has been Norika Creuzmann, who has been newly elected to the state parliament and who prevailed against two opposing candidates. In the second ballot she got 20 votes. Managing Director Mehrdad Mostofizadeh was elected Parliamentary Managing Director with 32 votes.
