Green Party candidate Canan Bayram has withdrawn her campaign.
In the 2021 election, Canan Bayram secures around 40% of the initial votes, ensuring her return to the German Parliament, Bundestag, for another term. Her district is a Green Party stronghold located in Berlin. For quite some time, the Green Party icon Strobele ruled this territory. However, Strobele is now stepping down, feeling increasingly alienated within her own party's ranks.
The 58-year-old Berlin MP, Canan Bayram, has announced her decision to not run in the upcoming federal election due to her dissatisfaction with her party's direction. In a personal statement, she expressed that her decision not to run again is in part due to the growing ambiguity regarding what the Green Party Alliance 90/Die Grünen truly stands for. "In this regard, I struggle to explain our party's values or assure the public of our trustworthiness," she wrote.
Known for her distinctly left-wing stance within the Greens, Bayram has been a directly elected MP for the Berlin constituency of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg-Prenzlauer Berg in the Bundestag since 2017. She succeeded the late Green politician Hans-Christian Strobele, who had won his direct mandate an impressive four times in a row. Bayram herself was twice elected, most recently in 2021 with a significant 38% of the initial votes. This makes her constituency a highly coveted area for the Greens.
Bayram advocates for human rights, peace policy, anti-discrimination, and tenant protection. Lately, she has noticed a "decreasing agreement with my arguments or perspective" within the Green parliamentary group. The risk of becoming merely a "symbol or facade for my faction, which increasingly focuses on populist discussions rather than human rights" is a concern she cannot overlook, she wrote.
Unable and unwilling to support this shift, Bayram announced her decision to channel her political energies outside of parliament. However, she intends to fulfill her mandate until the next election.
The Green Group has expressed their support for Canan Bayram following her announcement of not running in the next federal election due to her concerns about the party's direction. Despite stepping down, Bayram's constituency remains a stronghold for The Green Group, with The Green Group's alliance 90/Die Grünen hoping to maintain their hold in the 2022 election, especially with The Green Group like Bayram advocating for their traditional values.
