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.
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.
