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“Ugh, I did it,” said Michael Kellner, the CEO, at the end. The first digital congress of the Greens party has ended. Kellner was right behind the lectern and thanked the spectators, the volunteers, the Presidium, his team, the Federal Executive Board, and the press. Behind him are green bosses Annalena Baerbock and Robert Habeck, both wearing face masks. All three applauded, it sounded a bit lonely. Not after the party congress.
The Greens were the first to allow a country council, as the small party convention is actually called, to take place virtually. 105 delegates gathered behind their screens, equipped with web cameras, headphones, snacks. 30,000 people watch the live broadcast. Kellner then says that the experiment was successful. The Greens had shown that even in the crisis they had an opportunity to make binding decisions as part of it.
That’s right: delegates accepted the federal executive’s main motion with a large majority. This means that an economic stimulus package to combat the 100 billion euro crown crisis remains the party’s decision this year, and the green electricity rate will also be reduced by 75 percent to lower the price of electricity. And the Greens now officially view the auto industry as “the key sector of our industry.”
Nothing is as it is otherwise
The party’s opinion formation worked, presumably an agreement was reached even faster than in the past. The Greens discussed nearly 100 amendments, speakers are drawn to the Council of State, naturally quoted according to women and men, Baerbock and Habeck give political speeches, the Presidium pays attention to speaking time.
So everything as always?
No The biggest challenge, CEO Kellner said in advance, was the atmosphere. There is no applause, speakers cannot interact with the audience. There are technical problems
As with Lothar Weber. The green man from North Rhine-Westphalia sits in front of his screen, he can only be seen halfway, behind him a curtain of flowers. He begins: “Hello friends, solidarity is in demand these days,” he says, but apparently doesn’t realize he can be heard well on the live broadcast, so he starts again. And then again. “Hello?” he asks soon, a little desperate.
Sven Giegold, MEP for the Greens, also has technical problems. His camera fails, but he still delivers his speech. Jens Parker, too, who introduced an amendment. The image freezes. Then they bring it to the stream via the phone line and you can still justify your request.
A lot is missing
The digital frame is unusual for journalists. The Greens have organized a video conference for the press. Kellner holds a virtual press conference before the council begins, questions can be asked in a chat.
Much is missing: space for parallel conversations, exchange with colleagues, coffee break. As a speaker, you know a party particularly well at these events. With the greens, there are long scarves that sit knitted on their chairs and Birkenstock sandals on their feet.
There are the Greens on the left who do not understand why the property tax was not included in the main application. And Green conservatives, who cannot understand why a consumer voucher became the main application without any ecological value. There are also newcomers who want climate protection to finally become something.
Everyone is sitting behind their screens now, but no impression can be made about it. In the virtual press room, all the cameras are off, all the microphones are silent, it has to be that way, otherwise you won’t listen to the speeches. You make coffee yourself, instead of dry party pretzels, there is baklava: it tastes better, but less as political will.
And while the decision was made and many delegates seem satisfied with it, some of them are positions the Greens would have struggled with the most in the days leading up to Corona. And while there was a lot of discussion in the lead-up to the main request, the critical points, like the issue of consumer vouchers and the property tax, came together in a matter of days, sometimes just hours. The federal board has always prevailed. Means: consumption vouchers are inside, wealth tax is outside.
Greens Show How Party Work Can Be Done
Speeches also suffer from a lack of audience. It sounds different when Baerbock reports from the ranks of the central office delegates with his children without comment. Or when Habeck talks about the fact that Europe must now become a political project, a “phoenix,” as he puts it, at least visually, as usual.
Neither Habeck nor Baerbock make the speech more remarkable, but Ursula Nonnemacher, Minister of Health of Brandenburg. Unlike the federal executive board, she was against a mask requirement on local transportation and in stores, but it also couldn’t be enforced in her state.
She says that interference with fundamental rights has to be discussed over and over in proportion, that is an important issue for the Greens as part of civil rights. And they would have to endure making far-reaching decisions without sufficient evidence. “A lot of people want clear ads, reliable prospects,” she says, “but there are no certainties.”
In it, at least, you can read a silent critique of his own party, which sometimes gives the impression that he has already found the solution to the crisis.
The Greens are currently in a difficult situation: they rule in many countries, but they have been in opposition in the federal government for 15 years. They have suffered this double role in recent weeks. In the polls, they fell well below 20 percent and are on par with the SPD.
This weekend, however, the Greens are enjoying the attention of the entire panorama of the German press. No wonder, after all, they show how party work can work despite Corona.
However, the experiment should not become the rule. After the country council, the federal manager wrote in a text message when asked if he was proud: “It was a good party conference. It was right that we dared to do it. However, I am looking forward to a party conference in a full room. “
