German Green Party Leadership Resigns Amid Electoral Defeats
The leadership of the German Green Party, a key member of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's coalition government, announced their resignation on Wednesday, September 25, following a series of significant electoral defeats. Co-presidents Omid Nouripour and Ricarda Lang described the situation as the party's "worst crisis in a decade," emphasizing the need for new leadership to navigate the challenges ahead. Both leaders will remain in their roles until the party congress scheduled for mid-November.
The resignation comes in the wake of disappointing results in recent elections, including a sharp decline in support during the European elections in June, where the Greens' share of the vote plummeted to 11.9%, nearly half of what they achieved in 2019. In regional elections held in September in eastern Germany, the Greens failed to secure the necessary 5% of the vote to gain representation in the parliaments of Thuringia and Brandenburg, while only managing to surpass this threshold in Saxony.
The coalition, which also includes the Liberal Democratic Party (FDP), is facing increasing pressure as the liberals threaten to withdraw from the government if their demands are not met in upcoming budget negotiations. The SPD, despite a victory in Brandenburg, is also struggling in the polls, with predictions placing them in third place behind the Conservative CDU/CSU and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD). As the coalition grapples with internal divisions and declining popularity, the resignation of the Green Party leaders could signal further instability ahead.
