The Greens member of the Bundestag, Emilia Fester, caused a stir with statements about the voting age – because her party takes a different view of the issue and because of the context in which she spoke.
In a double interview by “Focus” with the senior president of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Schäuble, and Fester, the youngest member of parliament, the voting age came up. Schäuble asked Fester: “I have four grandchildren aged two, four, fifteen and seventeen. Which of them do you think should be allowed to vote?”
Fester then replied: “For me personally: everyone who wants to.” Schäuble then asked her whether the two-year-old was also meant. Fester emphasized that this is her personal opinion. As a representative of her group, she says that 15 and 17-year-olds should be allowed to vote.
The MP was vehemently and sometimes defamatoryly criticized for her statement on social media such as Twitter.
