Erfurt (dpa/th) – Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow got his State Chancellery Minister Benjamin-Immanuel Hoff (both leftists) in trouble during a question time in the state parliament. In a debate on the questionable hiring practice of state secretaries in Thuringia on Thursday, Ramelow, who is also a member of the state parliament, asked the minister whether he would meet the requirements for an appointment as state secretary in Thuringia. Hoff avoided a direct answer after Ramelow previously pointed out that he has professional degrees as a grocer and winemaker, but no college degree.
It depends on the overall examination of the requirements, said Hoff. According to the minister, Ramelow’s previous position as head of the former trade union for trade, banks and insurance companies “should correspond in terms of complexity to that of the higher service”. According to the Career Act, which Hoff referred to several times in the state parliament debate, state secretaries must have a university degree and at least three years of activity that meets the requirements of the higher service.
According to Hoff, a total of 24 state secretaries have been appointed to Ramelow’s red-red-green government since she took office in 2014. The Court of Auditors had questioned the hiring of some state secretaries with civil servant status. According to a preliminary audit report by the Court of Auditors, the hiring practice is sometimes “illegal”, “incorrect” or “incomprehensible”.
According to the State Chancellery, the state government took the draft of the test report as an opportunity to change the career law. The previous requirements for a political appointment of state secretaries are to be changed and adapted to today’s reality. According to the State Chancellery, these proposals are to be “presented to the state parliament promptly for consultation”.
