NRW Greens are looking for new leadership: Two want to run

Created: 06/18/2022, 12:58 p.m

The logo of the Bündnis90/Die Grünen parliamentary group in the German Bundestag.

© Michael Kappeler/dpa/symbol image

A week before the planned election of a new dual leadership of the North Rhine-Westphalia Greens, a member of the state parliament and a local politician expressed their interest in the top positions.

So far, two candidates for the state presidency are known, a spokesman for the state party reported on Saturday on request.

It is Tim Achtermeyer (28) from Bonn, who has just been elected to the Düsseldorf state parliament, and the Wuppertal parliamentary group leader Yazgülü Zeybek, as reported by the “Westdeutsche Zeitung” and the Bonn “General-Anzeiger”.

Düsseldorf - At a party conference on June 25th and 26th in Bielefeld, a new top duo is to be elected.

The incumbent chairmen Mona Neubaur and Felix Banaszak announced on Wednesday in personal statements to the party base that they would no longer run.

Neubaur (44), together with CDU Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst, is leading the coalition negotiations for the first black-green government alliance in NRW.

She is being traded as the future state economics and climate protection minister.

Banaszak (32) was elected to the Bundestag in 2021.

There he sees his place for the next few years.

Achtermeyer is the leader of the Greens council group in Bonn.

He entered the state parliament in May via a list.

He stands for a policy "that invites you to shape the future together with us," he was quoted as saying by the "General-Anzeiger".

He brings with him passion and experience as a previous city councilor and parliamentary group leader in various municipal coalitions or as spokesman for the Green Youth.

According to the “Westdeutsche Zeitung”, Zeybek would also want to contribute her local political experience as state chairman.

According to the report, it plays an active role in the coalition negotiations.

The North Rhine-Westphalia Greens largely separate office and mandate.

Only a third of the members of the state executive board may also be members of the Bundestag, state parliament or European parliament.

Party leaders are also not allowed to be members of the federal, state or EU Commission governments.

dpa