Federal Family Minister Anne Spiegel (Greens) is increasingly being caught up in Berlin by her past.

After Spiegel was questioned by the investigative committee of the Mainz state parliament, a current hour on Spiegel's behavior during the flood night of July 14th and 15th, 2021 also took place in the Bundestag on Friday.

Heike Schmoll

Political correspondent in Berlin, responsible for “Bildungswelten”.

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Spiegel had called in sick, so the debate took place in her absence and had been requested by the Mainz AfD MP Sebastian Münzenmaier.

His allegations culminated in the statement that Spiegel had shown with your behavior "that you are not only immoral but also extremely incompetent".

What is meant is Spiegel's attempt, documented by SMS messages, to pay more attention to saving their own honor in the face of an existential threat to the residents of the Ahr Valley than to warning and saving them.

Spiegel had defended herself in the committee in Mainz, above all, by shifting responsibility to others - such as her then State Secretary Erwin Manz.

Miinzmaier demanded Spiegel's resignation.

Klöckner and Czaja suggest Spiegel's resignation

But there was also sharp criticism from the Union faction.

“We don't need a minister who just covers her own back.

I'm ashamed of them, the victims in the Ahr Valley didn't deserve that," said Mechthild Heil (CDU), who came from the Ahr Valley.

She sees Spiegel's career "crossed by mistakes and self-centeredness".

The former Minister of Agriculture Julia Klöckner (CDU) said that as a person from Rhineland-Palatinate she could not forget the images of the flood disaster and asked, "How could it happen that a state government .

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caught unawares by this catastrophe".

Both Klöckner and CDU General Secretary Mario Czaja suggested that Spiegel resign.

Czaja described Spiegel's behavior as an "evasion of responsibility".

The left also spoke in the Bundestag of "unacceptable behavior".

The SPD, on the other hand, took Spiegel under its protection and referred to the responsibility of the Mainz investigative committee.

Leni Breymaier even spoke of a "slapstick event" and thus assumed transparent partisan political intentions.

Greens defend the minister

The Greens politician Filiz Polat found it shameful that the CDU joined the “AfD riot staging” and pleaded for the flood disaster to be dealt with.

Within the power arithmetic of the Greens, Anne Spiegel must be supported as the party's left wing, especially since Anton Hofreiter had to give up the Ministry of Agriculture in favor of Cem Özdemir.

But behind closed doors, some in the Green parliamentary group are also wondering who is actually advising “Die Anne” at the moment.

Doubts are being expressed as to whether it can survive in the long term with the line that has been perceived as reluctant to take responsibility.

That would certainly be different if she shone as Federal Minister for Family Affairs.

But that can hardly be said.

The large number of relevant press releases from her ministry, in which she can be referred to as minister for equal opportunities, senior citizens or women, cannot hide the fact that the press office was almost deserted for a long time and inquiries about her time as environment minister in Rhineland-Palatinate and their behavior during the flood night in the Ahr valley cannot be answered.

By rushing to appoint a queer commissioner and delegating the task to a state secretary, Spiegel showed where her real priorities lie.

Also in the press release before the night of the flood, the gendered campsite owners were more important to her than the residents.

Next, Spiegel appointed an antigypsy commissioner in her ministry.

However, the office of abuse officer has been vacant since the end of February.

The previous Independent Commissioner, Johannes-Wilhelm Rörig, had already announced his retirement in December 2020, and so far there is no sign of a successor.

A good four weeks ago, the ministry told the FAZ that the affected council had to be heard.

That happened a long time ago.

In Berlin there is now talk of a clarification by the end of March.

Spiegel also last heard about the care of the Ukraine refugees with many children of preschool age at the beginning of March, although the federal states and municipalities know that there will be considerable problems given the lack of educators and day-care centers, especially in conurbations provide targeted language support.