Votes for two-year olds demanded by German Green politician

Funny or throwing her weight around?

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Emilia Fester talks about voting rights for two-year-olds

Emilia Fester (24, Greens) is the youngest member of the German Bundestag.  She says about herself that she "wanted to vote when I was eight" - now she has spoken out in favour of voting rights for toddlers too!

In a joint interview with Bundestag elder Wolfgang Schäuble (79, CDU) in " Focus", Fester spoke out in favour of voting rights for all in response to a question from Schäuble.

The dialogue in detail:

Schäuble: "I have one question for you: I have four grandchildren aged two, four, fifteen and seventeen.  From your point of view, which of them should be allowed to vote?"

Fester: "For me personally: everyone who wants to."

Schäuble: "So also my two-year-old?"

Fester: "That's how I see it personally.  As a representative of my Parliamentary group, I say: 15- and 17-year-olds should be allowed to vote."

Meaning: the youngest Green in parliament wants voting rights for everyone who wants to vote - age doesn't matter.

Many in her party see things differently.  In the Greens' election manifesto, they agreed on a voting age of 14, in the government coalition agreement on 16.

The youngest member of parliament has already been polarising in the past, sometimes being subjected to gloating and insults.  In her first speech in parliament, Fester was highly emotional about the restrictions imposed during the Corona period.  Among other things, she said that she had not been abroad since the outbreak of the pandemic.  Later it turned out that this was obviously not the truth.  Instagram photos of the young politician show that she had been on holiday in Denmark in the summer of 2020.

Among other things, she was severely attacked on the Internet for this.  In this context, Reiner Wendt (65, CDU), Head of the German Police Union, called Fester an "ego brat", a "snotty brat", a "little child" and a "ridiculous ego representative".

The Greens then demanded an apology from DPolG leader, Wendt.  Whether it was forthcoming? Unclear.