The high flight of the German Greens is also reflected in the number of party members: The party recorded for the past year, the best member development since its establishment phase and an all-time high in the number of members.
Federal Managing Director Michael Kellner told the „Welt“ (Monday edition) that the party had 10,246 new entries and now counts 75,311 members.
„We’re getting younger, female and East German,“ he said. According to Kellner, growth was particularly strong in the eastern German states, where the Greens have had great difficulties so far. The growth rate in Brandenburg was 26 percent, in Saxony at 23 percent and in the East, excluding Berlin, at around 19 percent, said the Federal Managing Director. In Germany, the number increased by 15.75 percent.
Average age fell slightly
The proportion of women, traditionally higher among the Greens than among the other parties, „rose again slightly, from 39.8 to 40.5 percent,“ Kellner continued. In addition, the average age has fallen from 49.5 years to 49 years due to the many entries.
Kellner attributed the influx in East Germany also to the strengthening of the right-wing populist alternative for Germany (AfD). „The emergence of AfD and PEGIDA has roused people. They want to engage for democracy, for cosmopolitanism. “
In addition, there is a „great longing“ for a clean environment, for nature conservation, for preserving biodiversity, for a different agriculture and for climate protection also in the East German countries.
