Thuringia's Minister President Bodo Ramelow has justified his controversial decision to appoint Susanna Karawanskij first as State Secretary and later as Minister with her leadership experience. "The top priority was the ability and proof that she had already led a house and borne responsibility," said Ramelow (Left Party) on Friday before the "Postenaffäre" committee of inquiry, which is scrutinizing the state government's recruitment practices. Ramelow pointed out that Karawanskij (also a member of the Left Party) was Minister of Social Affairs in Brandenburg for a year before coming to Thuringia.
The background to the committee of inquiry is an audit report by the State Court of Auditors on the personnel policy of the red-red-green state government. Among other things, the report criticizes the fact that the best candidates were not selected when hiring state secretaries, for example, and that documentation obligations were violated. The State Court of Auditors accuses the state government of systematic and serious breaches of rules on the recruitment of civil servants. The state government rejects the accusations and takes a different legal view. In January 2023, it became known that the Erfurt public prosecutor's office was investigating the initial suspicion of embezzlement.
Ramelow emphasized that, as Minister President, he did not intervene in the work processes to check whether all requirements for recruitment were met. "I have held the political talks on this," he said. He would receive the fully examined case on his desk. Members of the opposition asked whether Ramelow had been made aware of any problems when checking the requirements for Karawanskij's appointment. "I had no knowledge of any problems," said Ramelow.
On the Karawanskij case, he referred to the circumstances at the end of 2019, beginning of 2020 in the committee of inquiry. The then Minister of Agriculture Birgit Keller (now Pommer, Left Party) became the new President of the State Parliament, leaving the ministerial post in the Ministry of Agriculture vacant. The head of the State Chancellery, Benjamin-Immanuel Hoff (Left Party), took over the post on a temporary basis. In view of the uncertain circumstances in Thuringia, it was not a trivial matter to find suitable personnel. He had asked three people in Germany "whether they could imagine it in the abstract", said Ramelow.
He later contacted these three people again and "two of them told me very clearly that it was far too uncertain for them in Thuringia, also for their personal lives". In the case of Karawanskij, who is only ever referred to as "Case H" or "Ms. H" in the committee of inquiry, he was initially unsure whether she wanted to become state secretary. Ramelow recalled that there had been a written agreement between the red-red-green coalition and the CDU for a new state parliament election in 2021. The question of a ministerial job only arose when it was clear that there would be no new election. He had no doubt that she was up to the task. Karawanskij was appointed Minister of Agriculture in Thuringia after the new election in 2021 fell through.
The Thuringian CDU parliamentary group sees contradictions in Ramelow's statements. "Once again, Mr. Ramelow claims to have known nothing. Nothing about the objections of the Ministry of Finance, nothing about the objections of the Ministry of the Interior, and nothing about the lack of recruitment requirements," explained CDU MP Andreas Bühl. A new election had not even been an issue on the date of the contract with Karawanskij. Ramelow's statements were misleading. "As head of government, he has to answer for every decision made by his administration with his signature," said Bühl.
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