Melis Sekmen is moving from the Greens to the Union faction.
Source: dpa
He was in a very cheerful mood and the news had not come as a complete surprise to him. Thorsten Frei, the parliamentary manager of the Union faction in the Bundestag, seemed a little like the manager of a Bundesliga football club who has pulled off a transfer coup and is now reporting it to the press.
The team is very pleased about the reinforcement, the new addition has a very interesting CV and the move is “understandable and very well-founded”.
In truth, of course, it was Melis Sekmen herself who initiated this truly spectacular change. Spectacular in two respects: Firstly, because it bursts right into the middle of the latest traffic light budget impasse and the murmurings about possible early elections. And of all things, a switch away from the traffic light coalition and towards the faction of the potential candidate for chancellor, whom large parts of the traffic light coalition reject with great passion: touché.
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This is how Sekmen explains her move
On the other hand, however – and this should make Friedrich Merz and his parliamentary group members even more pleased – the reasoning of the Mannheim MPs fit smoothly into the Union’s long-established pattern of argumentation.
My idea of how and in what style politics is done has evolved.
Melis Sekmen, former Green MP
So it is not just substantive positions with which she justifies her decision as the “result of a long process” – but: It touches on the principle, on the way in which politics is done in her previous party, says the 30-year-old.
Strong criticism of Sekmen from the Green Party
Particularly noteworthy in this context is the suggestion that we need a “culture of debate in which people can express their opinions and concerns without being pigeonholed.”
The Greens have always vehemently rejected the accusation that freedom of expression is currently being restricted, at least indirectly. The fact that this accusation is now being made by someone who has been part of their group for years cannot please anyone in the group.
It doesn’t. Sekmen was controversial in this very faction, according to sources in the party, and should be seen as “difficult.” It is also rumored that she has a high turnover of employees. According to information from ZDFheute, there is even a regular meeting of former employees who could no longer stand being in her office.
Melis Sekmen
:Green MP moves to Union faction
The Union and the Greens are engaged in tough political disputes. A Green MP has now decided to work with the CDU. That hasn’t happened for a long time.
Greens demand renunciation of mandate
There are now also reports of criticism of her work, particularly of the lack of results. It is said that this is one of the reasons why Sekmen would not have been able to get a good place on the list for the next federal election. Her return to parliament was therefore considered unlikely within the party.
Co-group leader Britta Haßelmann said in her public statement that she had been informed yesterday evening. “I regret that very much, but that is the situation now.” Haßelmann did not mention any thanks or appreciation for Sekmen’s work, but she said meaningfully:
You can’t stop travelers.
Britta Haßelmann, Green Party
Anger can be heard in the statement from the Mannheim Green Party district association. Sekmen was elected to the Bundestag via the Green Party’s state list and must therefore give up her mandate so that another person from the elected list can take her place, they say. CDU leader Friedrich Merz rejects this demand: Sekmen is “a freely elected representative and is only bound by her conscience – and she follows it.”
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CDU gives Sekmen no guarantee
The CDU seems to be opening its arms wide. Although there is currently no guarantee – at least not publicly – that she will be nominated for the next election in her current constituency. They are very pleased about the fresh impetus, they say.
Sekmen, chairwoman of the Economic Affairs Committee, has caught his attention as a high-profile specialist politician since she entered parliament in 2021, emphasizes Thorsten Frei – with her expertise in startups, she is tapping into a promising field. “We are pleased that she finds our political offer so convincing,” says the CDU man. And continues:
We are honoured that it is reflected in our new party programme.
Thorsten Frei, Parliamentary Secretary of the Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag
“Step forward”
Could Sekmen possibly act as a moderator in a black-green (abstain) coalition at the federal level at some point? In addition to the corresponding election result, this would probably require some time to pass – and some anger to dissipate.
She has certainly not been short of little semantic jabs at her former political home. Saying goodbye to the Greens – and thus to the self-proclaimed “progressive coalition” – is, according to Sekmen, “a step forward” for her.
