According to reports, with the approval of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Faeser can run as the top candidate in the state elections in Hesse on October 8 – and continue to exercise her office as federal minister in the event of defeat. The Hessian SPD chairwoman wants to explain her plans on Friday.
The Green politician von Notz told the “Handelsblatt”: “A state election campaign as a top candidate demands the whole person, just like the office of Federal Minister of the Interior – especially in these times.” He added: “Doing both together and in parallel would inevitably lead to neglecting one of the tasks and would simply be highly error-prone.” Each of the two tasks has the consequence of being “maximum involvement in terms of time and person”.
FDP Vice Kubicki, who is also Vice President of the Bundestag, told the Funke newspapers on Tuesday: “I expect Mrs. Faeser to keep her roles separate.”
CDU General Secretary Mario Czaja told the Funke newspapers (Wednesday edition): “An office as important as the Ministry of the Interior must not be misused as a fallback option for failed state election campaigners, especially in times of threat like these.” Germany’s internal security is “not a part-time job”. Either Faeser will remain Minister of the Interior “or she will appear in Hesse – but then please without a return ticket”.
The deputy chairwoman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Andrea Lindholz, declared: “Germany needs a full-time interior minister.” The CSU politician emphasized: “Mrs. Faeser is absent from her actual job every hour of the election campaign in Hesse. That can develop into a real security risk for Germany.” Either Faeser renounces her candidacy in Hesse “or she resigns,” said Lindholz. “Both are not possible in these times.”
The parliamentary director of the CSU state group in the Bundestag, Stefan Müller, also demanded in the “Handelsblatt”: “Federal politics or Hesse.” He added: “During the Hessian SPD election campaign, no files are allowed to pile up in the Federal Ministry of the Interior. That would be fatal.” Internal security is “not a part-time job”.
The SPD domestic politician Sebastian Fiedler criticized in the “Handelsblatt” that “of all people the colleague Kubicki is speaking”. The FDP deputy was “conspicuous in the past due to massive conflicts of interest”. Fiedler also referred to “numerous examples from the past that show that you can campaign from a top position”. For example, the CDU politician Armin Laschet was both Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia and candidate for Chancellor of the Union.
The head of the federal police union, Heiko Teggatz, asked Faeser to choose one of the two tasks. If Faeser were to run for office, the head of the Ministry of the Interior should be “replaced immediately,” he told the Handelsblatt newspaper. “We’re not talking about any public office here, but about the office of a constitutional minister,” said Teggatz. In addition, “political tactics for posts” would not particularly promote the police’s trust in the top employer, he added.
