Berlin – Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck quit German politics. The Green Party has been out of government since May and is now in opposition. Now other parties must make the environmentally friendly party strong again.
One week before the party conference Green vegetables In Hanover, BILD met with party leader Felix Banaszak for an interview.
IMAGE: Robert Habeck bringing the Green Party to their greatest success and into the federal government, but then together with the Green Party Traffic lights failed as economy minister and vice chancellor. When will the Green Party recover from Habeck?
Banaszak: “I think that’s the wrong question. I’m grateful for the work he’s done in the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The Trade Unions in particular always say: ‘Once Habeck is gone, then we’ll live in a country full of milk and honey again’. And the opposite is true. You now often see people saying: ‘Maybe what Habeck and the Greens were thinking wasn’t that stupid after all’.”
Should Merz and his government thank Habeck?
Banaszak: “I want that Friedrich Merz and his people learned little from him. In recent years, Friedrich Merz stated the opposite of what he does now. This causes a loss of trust in democratic politics. The craziest thing about this is that Unity’s logic is always ‘Give SPD and the Greens don’t have the money, they can’t cope’. And now we are people who are aware of these federal government regulations because we make sure that when debt is taken, an investment is made and it’s not just a tax gift. Markus Soder and the people will be distributed.”
When you are elected party leader in the winter of 2024, the Green Party will have 11 to 12 percent of the vote. While the current administration is more unpopular than the previous administration, you are in no better position. Why is that?
Banaszak: “This is a difficult time for green politics. Ecological politics, politics that is interested in keeping this country together, is going through difficult times right now. Of the many mistakes being made right now, Federal Government no other democratic party benefits at all. Anti-democracy groups always have an advantage these days.”
Climate protection issues: The federal government is currently involved in this Rainforest Fund with one billion euros. Isn’t that enough?
Banaszak: “Of course that’s not enough. Norway, which has a smaller budget and a smaller economy, pays three times as much. The picture given by Friedrich Merz in Brazil is one shame. The only thing that remains in memory of his appearance is a stupid joke about the place. Germany will get the bill: at a time when we want support from the UN Security Council in terms of getting the countries of the southern hemisphere to side with us against Vladimir Putin.”
Should the Chancellor apologize to Brazil?
Banaszak: “I am always wary of such demands for an apology. Friedrich Merz made so many mistakes that he cannot stop apologizing. The question is: Does he finally understand what responsibility he has? The man is not a columnist who can express his opinion, nor is he a participating observer – he is the Federal Chancellor. Friedrich Merz bothers someone once a week. Sometimes it is Brazil, sometimes it is the people of the country that he considers the problem as a whole.”
Pensions are currently the biggest debate in the coalition; the current government does not have a majority. Would the Green Party be willing to help the Black and Red out of trouble?
Banaszak: “No, that’s not the opposition’s job. Overall, I also think that this retirement package is wrong. How does Friedrich Merz want to rule for four years if, for every decision, he relies on the Greens or the Left, which he called crazy the night before the election, to help him? Supervised government is over. They have to finish it now. There’s no way the government is in such a mess after six months or three quarters of a year. I mean, For 30 years, Friedrich Merz has wanted nothing more than to sit in this chancellor’s office someday, and that person clearly doesn’t ready at all. Dan: No, we reject this retirement package because overall it’s not a sensible way to spend money and it doesn’t address the structural issues at all.
Green Party leader in BILD interview: “We voted against the pension package”
Do you find it annoying that the South West Green Party has been so successful with their counter concept to what is happening in Berlin, with their alienation from the party?
Banaszak: “No, not at all. I will do what I can to ensure that Cem Özdemir becomes the next Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg. I have known Cem for many years. In two or three places we look at individual issues in slightly different ways, but we are in the same party for good reasons. In 9 out of 10 questions we give the same answer.”
Cem Ozdemir said of the Green Party: “We have to ask ourselves critically why we are still suspected of lecturing people or knowing anything better.” What is your answer to that?
Banaszak: “We have to ask ourselves because that is the picture we have of ourselves. And to be honest: Every distorted picture, no matter how distorted, must have a kernel of truth. Anyone who makes policies based on the fact that things have to change must have great sensitivity to the impact on society. And I know that many people – not that we want – understand the green message as: ‘You are not right in the way you have done it so far’. And that is not my opinion. all Messages I come from a classic family of the Ruhr area, I know what is on most people’s minds right now.”
What did the Green Party do wrong?
Banaszak: “All parties, but perhaps even more so the Green Party, are characterized by people who perform relatively well. In some places, we symbolize this, or this is associated with ‘politics’: ‘They somehow come from above, they explain to us what we have to do and have no idea what is going on here’. And that’s why my approach is: Take the people as they are. You only have them. You have to do politics with the people and for the people.”
