Green Party leader Katrin Göring-Eckardt has not counted on the candidacy of Cem Özdemir and Kirsten Kappert-Gonther for the group presidency. "I was surprised that on Saturday, like everyone else, I learned that this candidacy exists," she said before a group meeting of the Greens in the Bundestag.
Ex-party leader Özdemir and the deputies Kappert-Gonther had announced on the weekend that they want to compete in the election of the Group Executive Committee on 24 September against Göring-Eckardt and Anton Hofreiter. "First of all, it's a competition that's good," said Goering-Eckardt.
She reaffirmed her ambition to continue with Hofreiter the 67-member group of MEPs: "They always understood the faction" as the institution that needs to advance the substantive work for the party must move forward with the party, and that we should lead from the middle, that we stand for cohesion and also for common clout ". That should stay that way.
This week will be jointly clarified how the election process should run, said Goering-Eckardt. Özdemir and Kappert-Gonther are expressly members of the team, but are usually chosen individually.
