Never say never: A little over a year ago, Tübingen’s mayor Boris Palmer resigned from the Green Party after a scandal and years of disputes. Now there are signs of a rapprochement. Can he return?
A good year after Boris Palmer left the Greens, there are signs of rapprochement between the Tübingen mayor and his former party. Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir can imagine Palmer returning to the Greens under certain conditions. He would like there to be a way back, said the Green politician at an event organized by the “Zeit” publishing group in Hamburg. “Writing people off forever is something you should do very rarely.”
Özdemir also stated the following as a prerequisite: “Of course I would be happy if he said: ‘I’ll let people help me, I’ll stop this nonsense of fighting battles with random people on Facebook at midnight and concentrate on my job.’ He is an excellent mayor, he should do that and leave the rest out. Then he would of course have his place. And I would be happy if that were the case.”
Palmer: “I really appreciate Cem Özdemir”
And Palmer himself can also imagine a return to the Greens. “A development at the end of which I could once again be a respected member of the Greens would be good for both sides,” the independent politician told the German Press Agency when asked on Sunday. “I value Cem Özdemir very much and am pleased about his conciliatory words.”
Palmer has been mayor of Tübingen since 2007 and his political statements often cause controversy. In May of last year, Palmer left the Green Party after a scandal over the use of the N-word at a migration conference in Frankfurt. His membership had already been suspended due to other controversial statements. After a break, he changed the rules for comments on his Facebook profile, among other things. In the local elections in Baden-Württemberg, Palmer is running for a seat on the Tübingen district council for the Free Voters Association (FWV).
Özdemir: Palmer has a “spotless record as mayor”
Özdemir said at the event on Saturday that he himself had struggled the most to keep Palmer and had built bridges for him. “Unfortunately, he was the first to tear down these bridges.” The Green politician attested that Palmer had a “spotless record as mayor.”
Özdemir is currently considered the most promising candidate for the Greens’ top candidacy in the 2026 state election in the southwest. Baden-Württemberg’s Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann of the Greens will no longer run.
Source: Stern
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