Faeser justifies state leader resignation with 'time for renewal'

Germany's Interior Minister Nancy Faeser of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) justified her resignation as the party head in the state of Hesse, saying it's time for change.

"I have achieved a lot with you over the last four years, now it's time for renewal," she explained, thanking the members for "strong cohesion after the state elections in October,

"This should also begin with a new management team and news ideas," she wrote in her letter, made available to dpa.

Faeser decided to hand over the state chairmanship at the upcoming party conference on March 9 in Frankfurt. The SPD in Hesse this week announced that Sören Bartol will run for the state leadership.

"Unfortunately, this election did not produce the result we all wanted," Faeser said about the last state elections. Nevertheless, the SPD is now part of the state government and has the opportunity it has sought for many years to turn ideas into reality in government, she added.

Faeser has been an member of the SPD since she was 18-years-old and was first elected to Hesse's state parliament in 2003.

As leader of the SPD state parliamentary group, she has been the leader of the opposition since 2019. When she was sworn in as a federal minister in December 2021, she resigned from the office, after being elected Hesse's SPD party leader in 2019.

The 53-year-old has also long been active in local politics in her home region of Taunus.

SPD and the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) currently govern the state in a CDU-led coalition.