the SPD-Health politician Bärbel Bas (53) has been nominated as President of the Bundestag by the SPD parliamentary group. The election will take place next Tuesday.
The former Minister of State for Integration Aydan Özoguz (54) was nominated as Vice. The SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich (62) announced on Wednesday evening in Berlin that his proposal was unanimously followed.
▶ ︎ The President of the Bundestag is one of the highest-ranking offices in the German state after the Federal President and before the Chancellor.
The President is elected by the Bundestag; the most important task is to lead the plenary sessions. The office is usually occupied by the largest parliamentary group, so it falls to the SPD after the federal election.
However, the Social Democrats previously had difficulties filling their candidates: they wanted to prevent all the highest state offices from being held by men, namely the Federal President, the President of the Bundestag and the Federal Chancellor.
BUT: Among the experienced women in the group, there was no candidate for the prestigious office.
In between, parliamentary group leader Mützenich was also in discussion. The women in the SPD had recently put pressure on their parliamentary group to definitely fill the office with a woman. If the SPD does not provide a President of the Bundestag, the intended second term of office of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is in danger, because then one would have to make a woman Federal President, it was said.
In addition, Mützenich spoke out on Wednesday evening for the re-election of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier (65) in the coming year.