As the scandal surrounding allegedly fabricated and spread by the RBB of defamatory accusations against Green Bundestag member Stefan Gelbhaar continues to unfold, the first personal consequences are emerging. According to a report by the “Tagesspiegel”, Shirin Kreße, the chair of the Green faction in the Bezirksverordnetenversammlung (BVV) of Berlin-Mitte, has reportedly resigned from her mandate.
In an email to the district council of Mitte and the chair of the BVV, Kreße allegedly declared her intention to relinquish her mandate at the earliest possible time, without providing any reasons. The newspaper claims that this has been confirmed by “several sources from the party at federal, state, and district levels”. Reports that Kreße had also left the party, however, have not been confirmed by the party leadership so far.
According to the report, Kreße had played an active role in the Gelbhaar affair from the very beginning. As a well-connected figure in the party, particularly on the left wing, Kreße serves as the spokesperson for the state working group on feminism. Her nationwide prominence was cemented at the Green party’s federal convention in Karlsruhe in November 2023, when she proposed the removal of a quote by the first federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Konrad Adenauer (CDU), on European peace order from the party’s election program. Kreße had argued that Adenauer had been too sexist towards CDU women during his time in office.