Green politician
Özdemir: Green wing fights shouldn’t be repeated
Green politician Cem Özdemir appeals to his party and calls for unity. Photo: Marijan Murat / dpa
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He is the first agriculture minister in Germany to describe himself as a vegetarian: Cem Özdemir. He also doesn’t like the “beef” at the greens.
The prospective Minister of Agriculture, Cem Özdemir, has reprimanded the quarrels in the selection of the green ministers.
The dispute over the posts was strongly reminiscent of the wing battles from earlier times, said Özdemir in an online contribution to the party conference of the Baden-Württemberg Greens in Heidenheim.
«Must not repeat itself»
“That must not be repeated,” warns Özdemir. In future, the Greens would have government responsibility in the federal government and would then have to clarify their possible problems and conflicts internally and appear closed to the outside world. The left wing, in particular, had made the front against the realpolitikist Özdemir’s free choice as minister. In the end, the parliamentary group leader Anton Hofreiter had to give way for Özdemir.
Özdemir had won the most votes of all successful Green direct candidates in the federal election in Stuttgart. The 55-year-old would be the first federal minister with Turkish roots. The Greens, who has so far distinguished himself more as a foreign and transport politician, admitted at the party congress: “I now have a task that I have not always expected.” He has been a vegetarian for more than 30 years. As Minister of Agriculture, he will try to stop the death of species and farms.
He also wants to be “a strong voice” for all consumers and farmers. It is clear that farmers are not against climate and animal protection. But you would have to make money. “You rightly do not want to be left alone with the costs.” Özdemir also announced: “I want to be the top animal rights activist in the country.”