Cornelia Seibeld has a good chance of becoming the next president of the state parliament. The CDU parliamentary group nominated her for this, and she is to be elected at the plenary session on Thursday. So far there has only been one woman at the head of the Berlin House of Representatives: Hanna-Renate Laurien (1991-1995), also a Christian Democrat. In the event of her election, it would of course be special to only be the second woman to take over this office, said Seibeld of the German Press Agency. “It also makes it special to be the indirect successor to Hanna-Renate Laurien,” said the CDU MP and former Vice President.
“I can remember them vividly and also that when I was a student I wanted to demonstrate, I think it was about teachers’ working hours.” Laurien was Berlin school senator at the time and described the demo as “Indian games of spoiled children of the affluent”. “In fact, she later became a bit of a role model.”
And does a woman in the presidency make a difference? “I don’t think that one intends to do it differently as a woman than men,” said Seibeld. “But I actually believe that women often organize themselves differently, are structured differently and perhaps lead and communicate differently in some respects,” said the MP from Steglitz-Zehlendorf, who won her constituency directly. “But it’s not something I set out to consciously differentiate myself from.”
Seibeld sees room for improvement when it comes to the question of how well the work of MPs can be reconciled with family life: “As far as the plenary session is concerned, we have become more family-friendly because, unlike before, we at least have a fixed end time,” she said. “Now 10 p.m. is not really family-friendly, but better than open end.” That’s a start. “I’ve been trying my whole political life to ensure that appointments have a fixed end and don’t go on forever, so that everyone involved can plan better.”
Seibeld replaces the previous President Dennis Buchner of the SPD. Buchner was nominated by his party as vice president, Bahar Haghanipour by the Greens as vice president. Seibeld said she doesn’t sit in the presidential chair more often than before. The management of the meetings will be divided equally. “The only thing that changes is the time, because traditionally the president opens the meeting and takes over the first two hours.”
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