Erfurt (dpa/th) – According to Thuringia’s outgoing Environment Minister Anja Siegesmund, her pace in politics no longer matched the possibilities of a minority government. Politics is the drilling of thick boards, said the Green politician on Friday at a press conference on her announced resignation in Erfurt. “Recently, my pace no longer really matched what is possible in a minority coalition, but would actually be necessary.” She therefore wishes the state of Thuringia “a stable majority and, above all, a stable possibility of governing with greens” in the state elections in 2024.
Siegesmund surprisingly announced her resignation as Deputy Prime Minister, Environment Minister and member of the Federal Council on Friday. She emphasized that personal reasons were decisive for her decision. “It has less to do with the minority coalition and more to do with, I would say, a process of discovery.”
Siegesmund had been Minister of the Environment in the Free State since 2014, with an interruption during the Thuringian government crisis in 2020. Initially, she was part of a red-red-green coalition led by Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (left), which ruled with a one-vote majority.
In the current legislative period, the coalition of Left, SPD and Greens in Parliament is missing four votes for majorities. In order to pass or change laws, the minority coalition needs votes from the opposition, most of which come from the CDU. However, the negotiations on this are considered to be lengthy and extremely complicated. Every year there are also bitter political battles over the preparation of a budget for the federal state with a population of 2.1 million. Siegesmund ran in the 2019 state elections as the top candidate for the Thuringian Greens. However, her party only narrowly made it into the state parliament – it achieved 5.2 percent at the time.
