The proposal by the SPD leadership to appoint former faction chief Rolf Mützenich as the new chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee has failed. Mützenich stated in an interview with “Stern” that he is declining the position: “A democratic and wise foreign policy cannot solely focus on military issues and objectives. This is also the wish of a larger part of our population. As in the past, I would have liked to participate in this debate. The chairmanship of the Foreign Affairs Committee seemed to me the appropriate place to do so” said the Social Democrat.
The background, according to party circles, is a defeat for the Social Democrats against the Union in internal negotiations with the CDU and CSU over the distribution of committees. So the Union insisted on the chairmanship of the Foreign Affairs Committee during talks this week. This is considered unusual, as the CDU also holds the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In general, the expert committee does not go to the same party as the ministry.
The idea of appointing Mützenich as the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee reportedly originated in the SPD leadership. The former faction chief was the first top party member to resign after the historic electoral defeat of the Social Democrats. He was subsequently replaced by Lars Klingbeil at the faction’s helm, with Niedersachsen’s Matthias Miersch now leading the faction.
Mützenich linked his resignation with an appeal to the coalition to set peace policy accents in foreign affairs. “Not only is the voice of the parliament crucial in matters of war and peace. The nuances of foreign and security policy should also be taken into account in the German democracy.