German Green Party leaders resign after drubbing in state elections

The German Green Party's co-leaders, Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour, announced on Wednesday that the entire party executive is resigning in November following a string of poor results in regional elections.

The move comes a year ahead of national parliamentary elections. Germany's Greens are currently the second-largest party in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's three-party coalition government, which has been beset by bitter infighting and has slumped badly in opinion polls.

"We need a fresh start," Nouripour said at a press conference in Berlin on Wednesday. A new executive committee is to be elected at the Greens' national party conference in mid-November.

"New faces are needed to lead the party out of this crisis," said Lang. "Now is the time to take responsibility and we are taking on this responsibility by making a fresh start possible."

German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, among the best-known Green politicians in Germany, applauded the resigning leaders and credited them for taking responsibility following a series of election defeats.

"This step shows great strength and foresight. Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour are proving what the party chairmanship means to them: responsibility," Habeck told dpa.

'Great service to the party'

"They are paving the way for a powerful new beginning. This cannot be taken for granted, it is a great service to the party," Habeck said.

Habeck added: "We have had a tough few months, the Greens have faced a strong headwind."

He also said that others leading figures in the party, including himself, need to accept responsibility for the party's poor performance.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who was the Greens' candidate for chancellor in the 2021 election, stressed that the party needs to regain public trust after seeing eroding support among voters.

"All of us who bear responsibility for the Greens and this country must ask ourselves what we can and must do differently," Baerbock said on Wednesday while attending the UN General Assembly in New York.

"This is about regaining people's trust in politics. Trust that politics is there for people and their concerns."

Baerbock said the party needs to find ways to reassure people that "change is good and important" to combat climate change as well as "for a strong Europe, for justice in this country and for peace in Europe."

In nationwide polls, the Greens have seen support fall far below the 14.8% the party received in the 2021 national election. At the time, the result was viewed as a disappointment after Baerbock had hoped to contend for the chancellorship.

But recent polls put support among voters across Germany down at around 10% to 11%.

Battering in state elections

Among the most recent and bitter disappointments for the Greens was Sunday's election in the eastern German state of Brandenburg, when the party lost all its seats in the state parliament after falling short of the 5% threshold needed to take seats in German elections.

The Greens are part of the incumbent coalition government in Brandenburg but got just 4.1% on Sunday, a steep decline from the 10.7% the party received in the previous state election in 2019.

Elections on September 1 also saw the Greens lose ground in the German states of Thuringia and Saxony. The Greens will not hold any seats in Thuringia after the election, and barely cleared the 5% threshold in Saxony.

European Parliament elections held in June also saw the Greens perform poorly with German voters.

The party has been the focus of attacks from conservative and right-wing politicians in Germany, who have alleged that Green policies on climate change and particularly around the energy transition, have harmed Germany's economy and industry.

Lang and Nouripour were elected co-chairs at the end of January 2022 and are considered relatively popular among party members.

Many within the Green Party give them credit for the fact that there has not been the kind of intense internal rivalries and clashes over policy that have characterized the party in the past.

Chancellor question

In addition to choosing new party leaders at a party conference in mid-November, the Greens will also decide whether to put foward a chancellor candidate in the September 2025 national election.

Baerbock, who ran for the post in 2021, said she does not want to be the candidate this time, opening the way for Habeck to campaign.

"I want an open debate on a possible candidacy at the party conference and an honest vote by secret ballot," said Habeck.

The party conference in November will now be the place "where the Greens will reorganize and reposition themselves in order to start the race to catch up for the federal elections with renewed strength," he said.

"Together, and only together, can we Greens be a strong voice in Germany and for Germany in Europe and the world," Baerbock said on Wednesday while reiterating her support for Habeck.