The state board of the Greens BW has applied for party regulation proceedings against the Mayor of Tübingen, Palmer. He had caused serious damage to the party.
The Tübingen district arbitration commission is now responsible for the process and time frame of the procedure, according to the statement from the Baden-Württemberg state board of the Greens. The mayor of Tübingen Boris Palmer (Greens) has been provoking for years and deliberately and seriously violated the principles and order of the party, said the Greens state chairmen Sandra Detzer and Oliver Hildenbrand. This is not about individual cases.
Boris Palmer (Greens), Lord Mayor of the City of Tübingen
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picture alliance / dpa | Sebastian Gollnow; Icon image
State Executive: Serious damage done to the party
Above all, Palmer used the issues of immigration, refugee and human rights policy to further distance himself from the party’s line. With his populist and destructive remarks, he did serious damage to the Greens, the state chairmen continued. There is no place in the Greens for someone who flirts with racism and stirs up resentment.
“Due to his behavior and his political actions, Boris Palmer no longer has a political home with Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen. The measure is full.”
Refugee crisis and corona pandemic
The two state chairmen Detzer and Hildenbrand cited Palmer’s demands for the deportation of refugees to war zones such as Afghanistan and Syria during the refugee crisis in 2015 as examples. He was also noticed by public hostility towards people with a migration background and asylum seekers in Ulm and Tübingen. Palmer was also infected with his criticism of the “lockdown” because of the corona pandemic. In a television interview in spring 2020, he said that this would mainly save people who might soon die anyway due to their old age or previous illnesses. After the severe criticism of his statements, Palmer had repeatedly apologized and claimed that he had not been properly understood.
Palmer wants to analyze allegations
OB Palmer said in an initial statement to the SWR that he thought it was good that he now knew what he was being accused of. He will now analyze this in detail with his lawyer Rezzo Hose. However, that takes time.
Green Party Congress adopts procedure
The reason for the application is a decision by the State Conference of Delegates of the Greens at the beginning of May. Palmer is alleged to have previously used a racist term against a former black national soccer player in a dispute on Facebook. The state executive has been entrusted with the conduct of the procedure. Together with the federal executive board, the Tübingen district and city council, he had also decided to withdraw Palmer’s support for the candidacy for political offices and to urge him to resign from the party.
Palmer’s lawyer suspects delaying tactics
Palmer’s attorney hose had only last week asked the state arbitration commission in Baden-Württemberg to formally establish that the party against Palmer “has no legal claim to expulsion from the party”. The former parliamentary group leader of the Greens suspected that the Greens delayed the process in order to drag it into the OB candidate nomination phase of the Greens in Tübingen as far as possible.
Palmer’s new candidacy for the OB is still unclear
At a meeting there it was recently decided to determine the next candidate for the OB election in a primary election. As a result, the former parliamentary group leader in the Tübingen municipal council, Ulrike Baumgärtner, announced her candidacy. In April, the members of the city association will decide who will run for the party in the university town. Palmer has not yet made a clear statement about a possible candidacy. The mayor elections in Tübingen are in autumn 2022.