“Difficult times are coming for the Greens” – the press

First, the entire federal executive board of the party, including co-chairs Omid Nouripour and Ricarda Lang, announced their resignation for mid-November. Late in the evening, the chair of the Green Youth announced her resignation. A new party executive board is to be elected at the federal party conference in Wiesbaden, which will lead the Greens into the federal election campaign.

“Admission of failure”

“Frankfurter Rundschau”: “Shortly after the third of three disastrous state elections, Omid Nouripour, Ricarda Lang and the rest of the Green Party’s federal executive board announced that they were resigning from their posts. It is a bombshell that is intended to enable their ‘beloved party’ to make a fresh start in the crisis. And an admission of failure. Under this leadership, the Greens have not managed to be perceived by large sections of the population as a party that explains rather than patronizes. That generates sympathy with its personnel rather than aversion. And that shows that it can prevail even in a difficult coalition. The symbol that can be sent out with new personnel is: We have understood that something has to change. The entire leadership team is facing up to this responsibility. The fact that individual people are not being singled out, as is usual in internal party power struggles, is a remarkable sign of solidarity. But it also shows how great the pressure was.”

“Dithmarscher Landeszeitung”: “The faces of the party were and are rarely the leaders, especially when the Greens are in government. It therefore does not bode well for the federal election if Robert Habeck, one of those primarily responsible for the disastrous image of the coalition, is to be put forward as a candidate for chancellor (…) The resignation of Lang and Nouripour is consistent, but not decisive.”

“Rhine-Neckar Newspaper”: “With their collective resignation, the Green Party leadership is doing their party a great service. By taking responsibility for the botched state elections on themselves, Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour are saving themselves and the Greens a potentially grueling error analysis and destructive blame game. In addition, a party leader who had been chosen as a target by more and more opponents (and a hate-filled internet mob) is leaving the limelight. The attacks on the 30-year-old were almost never objectively justified, but were often misogynistic. Nevertheless, the smear campaigns were not only a personal burden, but also avoidable interference – as unpleasant as it is that the internet trolls are celebrating this withdrawal.”

“Augsburg General”: “The only purpose of the Greens today seems to be to act as an enemy image. The Green Party leadership may rightly criticise the fact that the CSU in particular is targeting them – but they should not expect sympathy. The Greens have made themselves vulnerable through their own mistakes and have provided their opponents with a perfect opportunity to attack.”

Will the Green Party executive make room for Habeck?

“New Osnabrück Newspaper”: “For the traffic light government, the coup in the Greens means a further weakening at this point in time. The country needs a functioning government, the economy needs to get back on its feet, fundamental changes are necessary in migration policy. In fact, this requires reliability, clear responsibilities, decisive action. And no government party without leadership. It is becoming increasingly unlikely that the coalition will last until the next election.”

“Leipzig People’s Newspaper”: “With Nouripour and Lang, two people are leaving who managed to stabilize the still grassroots democratic party internally and cushion the many hostilities against the Greens. In the end, they did not have enough legroom next to the figures in the government who dominate the party, Economics Minister Robert Habeck and Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock. It can now be expected that Habeck will try to strategically position the new party leadership for his candidacy for chancellor.”

“Stuttgart News”: “The change of personnel at the top will not be enough to return to electoral success. To do this, the Greens must address the question of why so many voters are primarily disillusioned with the traffic light coalition, and why terms such as paternalism or even nagging are so often associated with them.”

“Weser Courier”: “The resignation of the entire federal executive board of the Greens was long overdue. The defeat in Brandenburg hit the Greens particularly hard… Ricarda Lang in particular had been the subject of much criticism in the past. The impression remains that the 30-year-old was not yet up to the task. But her co-spokesperson, Omid Nouripour, also reacted in a clearly unconfident manner when it came to the future of the traffic light coalition. It is quite understandable that the Green party leader is fed up with the constant bickering. But as a party spokesperson you cannot let that out so clearly.”

“Nuremberg Newspaper”: “Whoever succeeds Lang and Nouripour at the head of the party, it is unlikely that they will be able to achieve a rapid recovery that will have an impact on the federal election in a year’s time. The Greens are still succeeding where the transformation of society they are striving for hurts the least: in gentrified urban districts with a high proportion of secure income earners from the public sector. The Greens are not a people’s party, even if some in the party and in the media that are friendly to them believe that. They are a milieu party. And will remain so.”

“Ludwigsburg District Newspaper”: “In fact, difficult times are approaching for the Greens. The balance of power in the party, which has long been very fragmented, may soon be adjusted – everything will probably be tailored to the possible candidate for chancellor, Robert Habeck. But where the Greens’ path should and must lead is far from clear.”

“Reutlinger General-Anzeiger”: “The new beginning is in reality a personnel reshuffle to prepare the Greens for the upcoming federal election. To do this, the party needs new faces who have election campaign experience and who enjoy the trust of Robert Habeck, the likely top candidate.”

Should other traffic light parties also draw consequences?

“Southwest Press”: “The resignation as a drastic, important symbol could not only give the Greens a boost, but also put the coalition partners under considerable pressure. Neither the SPD nor the FDP are in a better position than their unpopular partner in the federal government. When will these parties actually draw consequences?”

“Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”: “The Greens’ problems are massive: They are part of the constantly quarreling traffic light coalition, their core issue, climate policy, is no longer en vogue and – what is perhaps most serious – they have lost young voters. (…) In this situation, Nouripour and Lang (…) are by no means the politicians who are solely responsible for the green downturn who are stepping down.”

“Handelsblatt”: “A fundamental problem is that the Greens lack modern structures. It would be consistent if Habeck were the sole party leader, but the statutes do not allow that. They insist on quotas and the separation of offices. The centrifugal forces in the traffic light coalition are thus becoming ever greater.”

“General Newspaper”: “The traffic light coalition is slowly dying. The resignations of Green Party leaders Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour, along with the entire board, are another step on this path. (…) In the traffic light coalition, the Greens stand firstly for a foreign policy that, according to Minister Annalena Baerbock, should be value-based, where pragmatism is often better in one’s own interest. But above all, the Greens stand for the Heating Act, of which historians will certainly one day say that with its originally planned massive interventions in private property, this has not only disavowed the coalition, but also the population’s trust in climate policy in general. The latter will only be restored very, very slowly, if at all, as the Green Economics Minister Robert Habeck will also know.”

“Munich Merkur”: “It is difficult to see the resignation of the executive board as anything other than the beginning of the end of the government. The Greens understood more quickly than the SPD and FDP that the verdict of the voters in the East was an unequivocal democratic imperative, which was: step down, and quickly. That deserves respect.”

“Cologne City Advertiser”: “The entire German party landscape is in upheaval. The SPD, Greens and Liberals are in an existential crisis. The Union has only partially renewed itself after the Merkel era and cannot benefit sufficiently from the weakness of its traditional competitors. Meanwhile, the AfD, which is in parts right-wing extremist, is scoring points with young voters and is also gaining importance in the West. And the BSW has so far not given the impression that it wants to join the ranks of the state-supporting parties. It is no longer a given that majorities can be found in the democratic center after elections. That is the dramatic message of these days.”

“Rhine Palatinate”: “The real problem is, of course, something completely different. And it is not just related to German politics, but to the entire (Western) world. See America. See Hungary. See France. The pendulum, which for a long time pointed in the direction of liberal, open and colorful politics, is now swinging violently in the other direction. Into the authoritarian, nationalistic. In Germany, this is particularly evident in the rise of the AfD. Yet just three years ago, at the last federal election, people were complaining that the Greens had taken over the dominance of the discourse, so to speak. That the other parties had adopted much (too much) of the Greens’ program. But there is nothing left of that.”