Melis Sekmen - Party change causes a stir: One minute the Greens, the next the CDU
Union deputies are called to take their seats. The faction meeting is about to begin. But Melis Sekmen is coming slowly. She shakes hands, is embraced.
On Sunday, the 30-year-old was still a Green. On Tuesday, she came up in the elevator on the CDU/CSU faction floor of the German Bundestag and did not turn to the Greens but to the CDU and CSU: her first session with the Union faction. Still a guest, but her departure from the Greens is sealed, her application to join the CDU already submitted.
Melis Sekmen's switch is good news for the Union
This is a switch that causes a stir. "A deep disappointment also from the Green Party and the Green Faction," attests CDU leader Friedrich Merz. One wants to welcome her with respect for her decision, also for her "truly impressive story," for the Union. The switch of the relatively unknown deputy is excellent news for the Union. It can be sold well: a young woman with a migration background from a working-class family who decides for the Union just a few months before the important elections in Saxony, Thuringia, and Brandenburg.
For a party, under the leadership of Merz, who is often accused of having problems with women, and secondly, who is repeatedly accused by the Greens of deliberately polarizing the migration issue. Sekmen's switch becomes part of a larger narrative, one that is not insignificant for the Greens.
Greens: "Travelers should not be stopped"
There they try to calm things down. The Green faction was reportedly surprised by the step and first learned of the decision through the press. Fraktions leader Britta Haßelmann spoke of it on Tuesday. She regrets the decision but also emphasizes: "Travelers should not be stopped."
Behind closed doors, some are clearer. The loss for the faction is not great, they argue, since Sekmen, who was previously the Green faction leader in the Economic Committee, had already neglected her work and had not integrated herself. She would probably not have received a list place in Baden-Württemberg for the next Bundestag election, speculates one. "We have one less problem," says another Green. CDU leader Merz emphasized on Tuesday that they want to find a position for Sekmen where she can bring in her experiences. She has already engaged herself strongly in the field of start-up companies.
So everything's good? For the Greens, it's not that simple. They suffer damage from it anyway. And they now only have 117 instead of 118 deputies. Sekmen's local branch in Mannheim has called on her to resign her mandate to enable a Green replacement to enter the Bundestag. But that is clearly not an option for Sekmen. And she cannot be forced to do so, the Basic Law gives individual deputies great freedom. They are only "subordinate to their conscience."
Deputies switching factions is rare, transitions to completely different camps even more so – Merz had the Greens labeled as the "main opponent" less than a year ago. The last Green Party defector to the Union occurred in 1996, when the former East German civil rights activist Vera Lengsfeld made the switch.
For the Greens, Sekmen's decision is explosive. She justified it with accusations that already apply to the Greens: they are too ideological, too moralizing, and not paying enough attention to what really moves the hardworking lower middle class. "Politics must have the courage to name uncomfortable realities, even if they don't fit into one's own political narrative," Sekmen writes in her statement to her former colleagues. "But for that, we need a debate culture that doesn't put people in boxes for their opinions or concerns."
And: "People should be judged by their actions, not their origin. People who work harder should have more of their work at the end of the day and be able to live better as a result." Sekmen's father came to Germany from Turkey. On her website, she writes: "My parents worked hard, sometimes in two jobs, just to get by."
Among the Greens, the processing of the EU election losses is underway. Some Greens might at least share some of Sekmen's views. Land Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir commented on the heavy losses in the EU elections at the beginning of June: The question is whether the Greens "address the concerns of the majority of people in the middle of society" and "provide good answers." He also called for more clarity in dealing with Islamism.
With 11.9% of the voter's votes, the Green result was even lower than expected. The party is still trying to draw lessons from the poor result. Co-Party Leader Omid Nouripour said on Monday that results would be made public "soon," "within a week or two."
For Sekmen, it comes too late. For her, it was a long process, she says. For a long time, she struggled, weighed the pros and cons, and "let experiences of the past few years and decades pass through review." For her, this step is now "moving forward." Into the future, without the Greens.
- Britta Haßelmann, the leader of the Green faction, expressed her regret over Melis Sekmen's decision to switch to the CDU but emphasized the importance of not stopping travelers.
- Friedrich Merz, the CDU leader, has welcomed Sekmen with respect for her decision and her story, seeing her switch as excellent news for the Union.
- The switch of Melis Sekmen, a woman with a migration background from a working-class family, to the CDU just before the important elections in Saxony, Thuringia, and Brandenburg, is seen as a significant move by the Union.
- Britta Haßelmann, a prominent figure in the Green faction in the Union parliamentary group, has expressed her regret over Sekmen's decision but also emphasized the need for respecting her decision.
- Melis Sekmen's switch to the CDU has caused a stir in the political world, particularly among the Greens, who are often accused of being too ideological and not paying enough attention to the concerns of the working class.
- Friedrich Merz, the CDU leader, has indicated that he wants to find a position for Sekmen in the CDU where she can bring in her experiences, particularly in the field of start-up companies.
