Before the state council on Saturday, state chairmen of the Greens are demanding a formal admission of error by the party because of the approval of the European asylum reform. “For us in Lower Saxony it is clear: That was a wrong decision, and we should commit ourselves to that at the weekend,” said Lower Saxony’s Greens boss Greta Garlichs the star. “That’s also the view of our base. The mood there is pretty dire. We’re losing long-standing members because of the decision.”
Philmon Ghirmai, state chairman of the Berlin Green Party, said: “Approving the asylum decision was a wrong decision.” There is great dismay in the party. “I expect these mistakes to be acknowledged and corrected. The state council should set this signal.”
The European politician Erik Marquardt is also pushing for such a formal signal on Saturday: “Approving the decision was a clear mistake and we must have the courage to admit this mistake at our state council.” No party is perfect. “Anyone who suggests otherwise loses credibility,” says Marquardt.
The decision by the interior ministers last week to tighten the right to asylum plunged the Greens into a serious crisis. Tough debates on the asylum compromise are expected for the small party conference in Bad Vilbel, Hesse, on Saturday. In its current issue, the star has traced how the party slid into the crisis.
Ghirmai, the Berlin head of state, expects the state council to “take a critical stance” on the federal government’s decision to approve the present reform of the EU asylum system. “This not only contradicts green principles, but also the coalition agreement.” The proposed border procedures with detention-like conditions “undermine the individual right to asylum and are a devastating way of dealing with people fleeing war, persecution and hardship.” A “course correction” by the federal government, for example in the triplet procedure, “is urgently needed”.
Lower Saxony’s Greens leader Garlichs also warned against ignoring the mood of the base. “Of course we have to have respectful discussions. But there is a clear expectation that things will be improved now and that we won’t give in to right-wing populist positions.” Marquardt criticized the internal party debate. “It seems to me that we still don’t have a common awareness of the problem,” he said. “In migration studies, the opinion is unanimous: this asylum decision must be corrected.”
