Erfurt (dpa/th) – The 44-year-old Bundeswehr Captain Matthias Kaiser wants to become the new state leader of the Thuringian Greens. The officer, who comes from Saalfeld and lives in Gotha, is the only applicant for one of the two posts as state spokesman, the board said on Tuesday in Erfurt. Candidates could still apply at the delegates’ conference of the Thuringian Greens this Saturday in Meiningen, said the outgoing party leader Bernhard Stengele. “It is not clear whether anything else is coming. Nothing has been announced so far,” he said of possible other applicants.

The party chairmanship has to be filled because Stengele has been energy and environment minister in Thuringia since the beginning of February and is therefore giving up the party office. He took over the ministry from Anja Siegesmund, who had resigned for personal reasons.