My diary
Photo: Martin Ebert
Dear Diary,
What do most people imagine the work of Parliamentary State Secretaries (the German equivalent of a Deputy Minister or Deputy Secretary) is like? Important, boring, irrelevant?
The Federal Ministry of the Interior writes the following about the role of the “PSts,” as we are called: “The Parliamentary State Secretaries support the Federal Minister in fulfilling political tasks. They must be members of the German parliament. They maintain the connection to the German parliament and Bundesrat (upper chamber) as well as to their committees. They also keep in touch with the different party factions in parliament, their working groups, and the political parties.
The Minister determines which responsibilities the Parliamentary State Secretary(s) should perform for her. Within these areas of responsibility, they can also represent the Federal Minister in statements to parliament, the Bundesrat and in cabinet meetings of the federal government.
There is a special bond of trust between the Parliamentary State Secretaries and their cabinet minister. They are named by the Federal Chancellor – in agreement with the Minister – to the Federal President for appointment.”
But what is my day to day life like? I want to provide you all with a truly personal impression of it here. Everything that you read here is my totally personal and private perspective, my subjective experience of my everyday work, but hopefully no less engaging for that. Bye for now!
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