The search for a successor to the ministerial office in the environment department could be difficult in the comparatively small Green Party. A potential candidate has already said no.
Erfurt (dpa/th) - The parliamentary group leader of the Greens in the state parliament, Astrid Rothe-Beinlich, is not aiming for the vacant head of the Thuringian Ministry of the Environment. She was elected as parliamentary group leader until 2024 by the Greens. "And that's how I want to perceive it," said Rothe-Beinlich on Tuesday when asked in Erfurt. The parliamentary group of the Greens have priority for them. The previous Environment Minister Anja Siegesmund (Greens) had announced one day before Christmas that she would give up her position as Minister at the end of January.
"There is still no successor plan. There is only speculation," said Rothe-Beinlich. If necessary, the search for a potential successor to the office of the environment minister should also be sought in other federal states.
Siegesmund's decision came as a surprise, the parliamentary group was only informed at the last moment. "I hope our faction stays the way it is," said Rothe-Beinlich. The Greens have five members in the state parliament, making them the smallest parliamentary group. Rothe-Beinlich has been at the head of the Greens in the state parliament since the start of the red-red-green government in Thuringia in 2014.
The 45-year-old Siegesmund, probably the best-known Green politician in Thuringia, says she wants to take a break and then start a new job. What that is, she left open. She was dissatisfied with the pace of a minority coalition that the Left, SPD and Greens have formed since 2020.
"For personal reasons, I decided to resign my offices on January 31, 2023 and hand them over to new hands in an orderly manner," Siegesmund said about her retirement. The Greens have a second minister in the government, Dirk Adams. Adams is Justice and Migration Secretary.
