The entire board of the Green Youth left the party dissatisfied. The remaining members now face the question of whether they will join. A visit to the young party base.
There are seven new faces who are coming to the Green Youth new member meeting in Düsseldorf. Sonja Bonhage has been a member for just two weeks. She wanted to get involved politically, found out which party was right for her and then made a clear decision: it was the Greens. “Climate policy, social justice, equality for women – these are all issues that are very important to me and that’s why I’m with the Green Youth,” says Bonhage.
The early 20-year-old sits in a row with other interested New Greens. It’s a bare office space, with posters of green politics hanging on the walls. Paul Rainer Pansky explains what it means to be with the Green Youth, where members can get involved, and how everyday party life works. He knows what he’s talking about: Pansky is the spokesman for the young Düsseldorf local group.
For him, the Greens are still the right party. He is happy and proud that, especially in these times when the Greens are losing popularity nationwide, people are choosing to join the party and want to get involved. “Here in Düsseldorf, for example, local politics also shows how cooperation between the youth party and the parent party can work,” says Pansky. Young members are listened to here and there is an influence.
Disappointment with the party’s policies
At the federal level, however, the ten board members missed it. Federal spokespersons Katharina Stolla and Svenja Appuhn, together with their co-chairs, announced in advance that they were so disappointed with the policies of the parent party that the only solution was collective resignation and exit.
In the end, the Greens made a different policy than what they wanted to do, Stolla told him ARD capital studio. She didn’t become politically active in order to keep having to support bad compromises. “Above all, standing up for a policy that I personally find wrong.“
There had already been a long process of alienation from the main party, said Stolla. The asylum course is too harsh for them and climate protection is regulated too inconsistently. Some also consider the fact that an original peace party repeatedly agrees to new arms deliveries and a special fund to be worthy of discussion.
“I can understand the frustration in the federal executive board”
In Düsseldorf, Pansky and the Düsseldorf Young Greens also discuss topics and the decision of the young federal executive board. “I can understand the frustration in the federal executive board,” says Pansky. “But I am of the opinion that it is a step in the wrong direction and that we should actually continue to work constructively in the party.”
If the young don’t uphold the green values in the party, who else will do it in times of coalition disputes and realpolitik, they ask themselves in Düsseldorf. Because there isn’t much left of the Peace and Climate Party in the traffic light coalition, they think. However, constructive work on the topics and issues is more possible within the party than outside it.
Throwing in the towel isn’t the solution, says Pansky: “That’s why it’s all the more important to show strength not only on the streets but also in parliament and in the party itself and for the right course of the Green Party to stand up for.”
New Instagram appearance is causing a stir
However, Stolla and her management team no longer trust that they will find the right course again. They even go one step further and not only quit, but also found a new left-wing movement. For the current board member of the Green Youth, it is “time for something new”. The same name is given to a new Instagram page that has been launched. A video trailer and some quote boards can be seen on it since yesterday. It seems to have been her plan for a long time to take this route – the appearance was apparently prepared.
“We notice more clearly every day that there is an urgent need for a political force that will put an end to the way politics is currently being done,” says one of their posts. What is needed is “a political force that fights to finally put the economy at the service of people.”
The resigned members also include former young Greens, such as ex-federal spokeswoman Sarah-Lee Heinrich. She writes: “I would like to finally make politics that can give real perspectives. Get people excited about a new social plan.” The current state board of the Lower Saxony and Bavarian Green Youth has also joined.
In Düsseldorf, the new Instagram presence of the Green Youth is causing a stir. Lilli Hampeter has been a member of the youth organization for two years and does not want to join: “It was less surprising to me because there had been a lot of talk among the Green Youth for a long time about how the party was positioning itself and that it was no longer left-wing enough, what I also share it to some extent. But I don’t share the approach to breaking away from the party because I think it gives you less influence on politics.”
Experts are skeptical Chances of success
The question still remains as to whether the separation of the Federal Youth Board was just the beginning? Will other party leftists follow them? Party researcher Uwe Jun, who deals a lot with the fragmentation of the political system, is rather skeptical.
“We have now seen a successful split with the BSW from the Die Linke party. But normally such spin-offs and new formations are generally not successful and have a very difficult time. And that is not very likely in this case either about a successful start-up.”
But Jun adds: “Of course we still know far too little about the planned project and what exactly they want to bring in at the end and how they want to set up the whole thing.” It is an attempt that also seems to divide the Green Youth and raises the question of which path is the right one: go or stay?