He will certainly get a gift, the outgoing federal manager of the Greens, Michael Kellner. He is now Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and is therefore giving up his job in the party office. “I’m looking forward to surprises,” he said in the days leading up to this weekend’s party conference. He was referring to a parting gift. And anyway, he’s looking forward to the party conference. It’s the twelfth he organized.
You will see how great the joy will actually be on the two days. Because the transformation of the Greens into the governing party will shape this party congress. The snake is shedding its skin, and so is the party. In addition to the elections for a new federal executive board, grassroots democracy is also up for debate. The party should have clearer structures, more manageable, easier to control, say some. Streamlined, say the others and see the end of grassroots democracy.
It is about a change in the statutes, with which the federal executive board wants to take account of the fact that the party has grown, and that considerably. It no longer has 20,000 members as it used to, but 125,000 now. The structures are no longer manageable in practice, says Kellner. “We had 3,500 amendments at the last party congress,” says Kellner. Also in 2013 and 2017, four-digit numbers of change requests to the draft programs of the federal executive board were registered. “I’m probably the only one who’s read them all,” says Kellner.
Now the hurdles should be higher. No longer 20 members as before would have to support an application, but a quorum of the party. According to the Executive Board’s ideas, 0.1 percent of the members should come together for independent motions and 0.05 percent for amendments. It is questionable whether this will be decided. There are eleven amendments on this. Almost all are aimed at preserving grassroots democracy in a similar framework as now. Member participation is undermined by the proposal to change the statutes.
Overall, the party is on the way up. “Roots for the future” is the motto of the conference and those responsible leave no doubt that they want to continue growing after the successful inauguration of the government. The federal executive board and party council as well as a new federal arbitration court are re-elected. In addition to Ricarda Lang and Omid Nouripour for the presidency, lesser-known party members are also running for the posts. Emily Büning from Hamburg applied to become the political director and thus Kellner’s successor.