Nina Stahr: Green Party leader loses mandate – “disappointing”

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Green politician Nina Stahr in December 2023

Photo: Jörg Carstensen/dpa

Berlin's Green Party co-leader Nina Stahr loses her seat in the Bundestag. Due to the low voter turnout in the partial by-election of the federal election in some Berlin electoral districts, her mandate goes to the North Rhine-Westphalia Green Party regional association. “It’s disappointing that I’m no longer in the Bundestag,” Stahr told the Tagesspiegel. In parliament she was a member of the committee for education, research and technology assessment as well as the family committee.

Regarding the Greens' slightly improved overall result, Stahr said: "This is a strong sign for the Greens' policies. The result gives us tailwind.” It shows that the Greens did a good job in the Bundestag and in the election campaign. “I would like to thank everyone who was out on the streets for that.”

Stahr isn't the only one losing her seat. A mandate from the SPD and one from the Left are also moving from Berlin to other federal states, the FDP even has to give up a seat entirely, so the Bundestag will shrink to 735 members. This is due to the low participation in the repeat election. Nina Stahr entered the Bundestag in 2021 in fifth place on the state list.

The politician was state chairwoman of the Green Party in Berlin from 2016 to 2021 and has been so again since December last year. At that time, Stahr had actually only taken over the chairmanship together with Philmon Ghirmai as a temporary solution to pacify a leadership crisis in their party. Her election was considered an exception - as a member of the Bundestag, she is actually not allowed to hold any party function; according to the statutes of the Greens, there is a separation of office and mandate.

Now her interim chairmanship, which is scheduled to last six months, could last longer. “I really enjoy being state chairman,” she told the “Tagesspiegel”. “Some people have secretly wished that I could do this beyond the summer.” The politician wants to talk to her party in the coming days.

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