Schwerin (dpa / mv) – Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Minister of Agriculture Till Backhaus (SPD) continues to be criticized for his statements, which were seen as an insult to the Green Party leader Ricarda Lang, despite an apology. “If the words fell as reported, then it was a bottomless impertinence. Half-heartedly apologizing afterwards is not enough. He has to do it again,” said the Greens’ parliamentary group leader in the state parliament, Harald Terpe, on Monday in Schwerin . His deputy, Anne Shepley, described the statement attributed to Backhaus as inhuman, defamatory and deeply misogynistic. No demands were made against the minister to resign.
Citing ear witnesses, the “Schweriner Volkszeitung” reported at the weekend about the Minister’s appearance on Thursday at the North German Food Summit in Rostock, at which the SPD politician is said to have made disparaging remarks about Lang. The starting point was the statement wrongly attributed to Lang that one should simply reduce the portions in view of inflation and rising food prices. Backhaus is said to have said that Dick and Doof used to be two people.
After the process became known and sharp criticism from the Greens’ federal and state executives, Backhaus apologized for the statements on Saturday. “In my free speech, I used formulations that could possibly be misunderstood,” it said in a statement. It was not his intention to discredit or even offend people, parties or institutions. “If people still feel hurt because of my statements, I apologize and will not repeat statements of this kind,” explained Backhaus. According to a ministry spokesman, the disputed words were marked as a quote and the minister emphasized in his speech that they did not reflect his position.
The long-serving Minister of Agriculture also had to listen to criticism from his own party. Like SPD state and government leader Manuela Schwesig, SPD state parliamentary group leader Julian Barlen described the choice of words as “unacceptable” on Monday. Schwesig had previously announced on Twitter that she was “always clear about treating each other with respect” in the political debate. It is correct that Backhaus personally apologized to Lang.
