The resignation of Anne Spiegel as Family Minister was tendered earlier on Monday following the revelation that last summer, when she was Environment Minister of the Rhineland Palatinate, she had gone on holiday while the region was dealing with the deadly floods. She even noted in a statement that she had resigned citing "political pressure" and became the first minister to leave the coalition government.
For her part, deputy chancellery spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann noted that Chancellor Schultz was moved and personally affected, as for him it was, on a human level, a very "moving performance" and stressed that in terms of cooperation with the minister that "the Chancellor appreciates her work".
It should be noted that German media had been stressing since Monday morning that Spiegel had been urged by Annalena Verbok and Robert Habeck to resign. Indeed, as Politico reports, it is considered difficult to replace her as Green Party rules stipulate that her successor must also be a woman and come from the left wing of the party.
Recall that according to the Bild am Sonntag report, Ms Spiegel went with her family to the south of France, where she stayed for four weeks, interrupting her vacation for only one day to spend a few hours in Mainz.
On Sunday evening, Spiegel, visibly charged, tried to justify her "wrong", as she said in retrospect, choice. She said she was under pressure as her husband suffered a stroke in 2019 and her four young children had suffered during the pandemic.
"We reached a point where the family needed a holiday and I had to choose between my obligations as a minister and those as a wife and mother. For this mistake I apologize," she said, noting that she remained in contact with her ministry even from her holiday destination.
But Bild am Sonntag revealed that although the minister had implied that she had attended cabinet meetings, she had in fact been represented by her deputy minister.
At the end of her public apology, the minister turned to her colleagues and asked, visibly embarrassed.
According to BILD, an extraordinary meeting of the Green leadership took place yesterday, which was attended by, among others, Economy Minister Robert Habeck and Foreign Minister Analena Berbock. According to the newspaper, several party members suggested that Ms Spiegel should resign, but she refused and asked for a second chance.
Earlier, Christian Democratic Party (CDU) leader Friedrich Merz had called for her resignation, while Christian Social Union (CSU) general secretary Stefan Mayer asked Ms Spiegel to follow the example of former North Rhine-Westphalian Environment Minister Ursula Heinen-Escher (CDU), who resigned last week after it was revealed that she celebrated her husband's birthday in Mallorca last summer, days after the floods last July.
Source: protothema.gr
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