STORY: Interview for a member of the federal cabinet. In the Hessian town of Friedewald, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser officially threw in her hat as the top candidate in the state elections on Friday. “I’m applying for the position of prime minister in Hesse. I’ll make an offer to the committees right away. My home is Hesse. I’m rooted here.” – SCHNITT – “And I would like this federal state to be made more modern, stronger and more social. That’s why I’m competing. For me, Hessen is a matter close to my heart.” The fact that she wants to remain in office as Federal Minister of the Interior until the election on October 8 has met with criticism from the CDU as well as from the ranks of the traffic light parties Greens and FDP. Were Faeser surprised by the allegations? “Not at all. I know how political discussions go, so that didn’t surprise me at all. It is a democratic matter of course to run for office. when a woman does it. I’ve rarely heard the question from men.” CSU boss Markus Söder meanwhile followed up again. A dual role is not incompatible from the outset, said the Bavarian Prime Minister, who also has to face a state election on October 8th. “But you have to do the job that’s at stake. And the job at the moment means: This is one of the central tasks. The municipalities are not making their concerns public for ideological reasons, but for logistical reasons, because they don’t know how they should solve it. There just has to be a minister there. And don’t say now: I’m going to do a party event with the Jusos.” The SPD likes to counter the criticism with reference to the former CDU Federal Minister of the Interior, Manfred Kanther, who also ran as a top candidate in Hesse in 1995 – and remained in office after he was unable to form a government in Wiesbaden. What is undisputed, however, is that Faeser, as interior minister, has a busy schedule: immigration in particular is at the top of her agenda. In addition, as the federal negotiator in the collective bargaining dispute in the public sector, a hot spring is ahead of her.