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.
