SPD post for red-green-red in Berlin
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Geisel again building senator, Spranger first interior senator
Mon 20.12.21 | 09:15 am | from
Greens and leftists have already presented their Senate staff in the past few days. The SPD took its time with its team. Now one thing is certain: there are two familiar faces and two surprises. By Jan Menzel
The SPD presented its senators for the future red-green-red state government in Berlin on Monday.
Nobody had any guarantee that they would continue. But Andreas Geisel was considered by most to be set for the new red-green-red Senate. The 55-year-old has been a Senator for the Interior for the past five years and is now returning to his old place of work in the urban development administration. From 2014 to 2016 he was the owner of the house there. Some say: The building senator was and is his dream job.
For the SPD and the designated governing mayor Franziska Giffey, building and living will definitely be central topics in the coming years. Geisel is considered the man who can and should deliver here. The social democrat is well connected and valued in the real estate industry. Christian Gaebler joins the urban development administration as State Secretary. Gaebler is currently still head of the Senate Chancellery.
Spranger takes on the interior department
It was also speculated that the deputy SPD state chairman and housing policy spokeswoman Iris Spranger could become the senator for urban development. Nothing will come of it. The close confidante of the SPD parliamentary group leader Raed Saleh is to become Berlin’s first interior senator instead. The fact that she will be a member of the new Senate in this position, of all places, is unexpected, but it is likely to be related to the power structure within the party. In addition, a “surplus of men” in the Senate would have met with anger in the party.
Spranger knows the Berlin administration from the inside out: from 2006 to 2011 she was State Secretary in the financial administration. One of your first tasks will be to deal with the mishaps in the House of Representatives elections. Unlike the outgoing Interior Senator Geisel, she can go to work completely unencumbered.
Busse becomes Senator for Education, Schwarz Senator for Economics
The “newcomer” in the education administration should also stand for a fresh start: Astrid-Sabine Busse is no stranger to the education scene. The head of a primary school and chairwoman of the Berlin School Management Association knows the school and lessons from her own experience. During the corona pandemic, the 63-year-old was one of those who insisted on the importance of face-to-face teaching for children. The fact that Busse, like the future Governing Mayoress Giffey, comes from Neukölln should be a good starting point for cooperation in the Senate.
The election of the new Senator for Economic Affairs is just as surprising as the decision in favor of “Fachfrau” Busse. Stephan Schwarz was President of the Berlin Chamber of Crafts until 2019. Now the head of a large medium-sized company for building cleaning in the Senate is to ensure that the economy of the capital builds on its old successes again after the Corona crisis. According to reports, Schwarz is and will probably remain non-party. From SPD circles it was said that they had brought Schwarz because of his undisputed expertise.
Green and left senators had already been decided
With these personnel decisions by the SPD, the new Senate team is complete. The Greens had given their personal details earlier and had them approved by a party congress. The previous parliamentary group manager Daniel Wesener will be the new finance senator. Top candidate Bettina Jarasch takes over the office of Transport and Environment Senator. As Senator for Health and Science, the Greens have brought Ulrike Gote, who is largely unknown in Berlin, from Kassel.
At the Left, Klaus Lederer is again running as Senator for Culture. The university professor Lena Kreck is to become the new Justice Senator. With the appointment of their former federal chairwoman Katja Kipping as social senator, the Berlin left had landed a coup two weeks ago.
The timetable of the three coalition parties SPD, Greens and Left provides that Franziska Giffey will be elected mayor on Tuesday. Following their election, the new senators are to be appointed.
Broadcast: Inforadio, December 20, 2021, 9:15 a.m.