North Rhine-Westphalia’s Environment Minister Ursula Heinen-Esser (CDU) wants to resign. Heinen-Esser came under increasing pressure because of a stay in Mallorca during the flood disaster in July 2021.
A good five weeks before the state elections, North Rhine-Westphalia’s Environment Minister Ursula Heinen-Esser (CDU) wants to resign. The German press agency in Düsseldorf found out on Thursday. Heinen-Esser came under increasing pressure because of a stay in Mallorca during the flood disaster in July 2021.
Building Minister Ina Scharrenbach (CDU), Europe Minister Stephan Holthoff-Pförtner (CDU) and the then State Secretary Serap Güler (CDU) took part in a joint “dinner” on July 23 in Mallorca, Heinen-Esser confirmed on Thursday a report by the “Kölner City Gazette”.
Opposition in North Rhine-Westphalia demands the resignation of Heinen-Esser
The SPD demanded the immediate dismissal of Heinen-Esser. “Mr. Wüst, fire Heinen-Esser – here and now!” Said SPD MP Stefan Kämmerling (SPD) on Thursday during the state parliament debate on the flood disaster. SPD opposition leader Thomas Kutschaty also called for the minister’s dismissal. While tens of thousands of people affected by the flood were struggling with the consequences of the tide, high-ranking representatives of the NRW state government in Mallorca “had a good time,” said Kuschaty.
“But the new findings are the icing on the cake.” After “salami tactics and attempts to cover up by the environment minister,” it is now becoming apparent that “a real scandal is apparently being kept under wraps.” Greens and AfD called on Heinen-Esser to resign.
Green MP Johannes Remmel spoke of the minister’s “Costa Concordia moment”. “You disembarked at a time when the ship was sinking,” said Remmel, referring to the ship disaster in 2012. “You deceived the committee and told an untruth.”
Minister wants to answer questions in the committee of inquiry
Heinen-Esser rejected the allegation of deception. She will continue to participate in the investigation and strive for transparency. She will now also make her e-mails available to the committee. She dodged the question of whether she was ready for a position in a cabinet after the state elections on May 15.
The Environment Minister has long been criticized for briefly interrupting her stay in Mallorca after the flood on July 15, but then continuing on July 16. She justified this in the state parliament’s investigative committee by saying that she had to bring back her underage daughter and her friends who had stayed on the island.
When Heinen-Esser then sent the committee her flight details, it became clear that on July 25 she, her husband and daughter had started their regular return flight, which had already been booked in February. Heinen-Esser said that she had “completely” carried out her official duties in Mallorca and would again answer questions from the committee of inquiry on April 22nd.
The chairman of the committee of inquiry, Ralf Witzel (FDP), welcomed “the fact that the state government promised us further materials”. The testimonies of the witnesses questioned so far have varied, said Witzel, without naming names.
The FDP politician once again made the extent of the flood clear. With 180 cities and municipalities, almost half of the municipalities in NRW were affected by the flood. 49 people lost their lives in the flood. The committee owes you a “complete clarification of all causes and responsibilities”. The flood of the century on July 14 and 15, 2021 brought “unimaginable suffering and devastation”.
Source: Stern
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