Greens Find New Posts for Former Leaders

They fought to the bitter end to try and save their jobs as one half of one of the most successful leadership duos Germany's Green party had ever had. But on Monday, they landed new ones.

But, in the end, at a party conference in Hanover last December, delegates voted narrowly against ignoring a party rule which would enable Claudia Roth and Fritz Kuhn to keep their jobs as leaders of the Greens. Greens at the conference in December elected Angelika Beer, a 45-year-old defense expert, and Reinhard Bütikofer, the Greens' 49-year-old national party manager, as the party's new co-chairs.

Roth and Kuhn had previously led the Greens to their best-ever result in German parliamentary elections last September and had also won their own seats in the Bundestag. However, under Green Party rules, members are prevented from simultaneously holding a party post and an elected office.

A tough job hunt

On Monday, the party announced new positions for Roth and Kuhn after a difficult search and uneasy compromises.

Kuhn will head up a new parliamentary working group for the economy and labor market, while Roth is to share the role of spokeswoman on cultural issues with Antje Vollmer.

The search for new jobs for the two has not passed off without causing resentment within party. Kuhn was originally supposed to take up the role of economic policy spokesperson for the party before a more permanent job could be found for him. But the current economic policy spokesman, Werner Schulz, refused to give up his job to make room for Kuhn. Nor did Vollmer want to give up her role as cultural affairs spokeswoman.