His longtime mentor Winfried Kretschmann called Boris Palmer's step "understandable".
This is an elegant paraphrase of a clever move by the mayor of Tübingen and the best-known German local politician.
Because with the decision not to run against him as an official Green candidate in the mayoral election in the fall because of the ongoing party exclusion process, Palmer may be saving his political future.
Palmer has left it open as to whether he will apply for another term as an independent candidate with a Green Party membership. However, standing in a primary in his own party would have meant the risk of failing against a largely unknown fellow party member. With his statements on migration or corona measures, Palmer has provoked the left wing of the party in particular to incandescence for years.
Just how foolish it would be to do without a political talent like Palmer, who also appeals to conservative voters far beyond the Green core milieu, was recently made more than clear by 500 Greens, including well-known former party leaders.
If Palmer runs, he has a good chance of being reelected with a respectable record as mayor.
Throwing an election winner who convinces the citizens out of the party would be more than an embarrassment: it would be a debacle for the Green party leadership.