Misbah Khan, the deputy for the Green parliamentary group, rejected criticism of the federal funding program “Democracy Lives”. She stated to the “Welt” that there are “enough associations and small local initiatives coming from the broad middle of society among the funded organizations. The accusation that a large portion of the actors are inherently left-green biased is not true”.
Regarding the Education Minister, Karin Prien (CDU), who intends to fundamentally restructure the program, Khan commented, “But if it is constantly asserted that anyone who advocates against group-related anti-humanity is inherently left-green biased, then I can understand why a conservative like Ms. Prien feels compelled to act”.
Khan also criticized the idea of granting local councils more say over individual projects within the broader “Partnership for Democracy” area of the “Democracy Lives” program in the future. She argued, “Because there are already far-right actors sitting there who block democracy projects today, doing so would amount to an obstruction if one, like Prien, wants to influence rural areas”. She maintained that the current organizational structure, where both administrative and civil society actors decide on project funding, “is a strength because, for example, students can often participate in this process”.
