She has been on leave since mid-December 2024 and until the end of May this year, working for the SPD Rhineland-Palatinate and is primarily responsible for the state election campaign. The “Trierischer Volksfreund” had previously reported on it.

While the Interior Ministry stated upon request that legal requirements had been met, criticism came from the opposition and the taxpayers’ association. The civil servant does not receive any salary from the state during the special leave, but her pension entitlements continue to increase. The critics are offended by the latter.

Ministry refers to party law

Such leaves of absence are permitted by law if they serve public concerns or official interests. This is exactly what the Interior Ministry is referring to. Parties play a central role in the constitutional structure of the Federal Republic of Germany, the party law defines them as a constitutionally necessary part of the free democratic basic order, and they fulfill a public task.

“Supporting this central role of the parties serves the functionality of democracy and our state as a whole and thus public concerns,” emphasized the ministry. According to him, pension entitlements increase by almost 1.8 percent per year during special leave. As an employer, the SPD pays a pension surcharge to the State Office of Finance.

Harsh tones from the CDU and Free Voters

The general secretary of the CDU Rhineland-Palatinate, Johannes Steiniger, spoke of the SPD’s “special chutzpah.” This shows no awareness of injustice. He could not understand the ministry’s explanation. The Rhineland-Palatinate Taxpayers’ Association spoke of a “convoluted special leave policy at taxpayers’ expense.”

The general secretary of the Free Voters, Daniel Klingelmeier, sees a “justice problem” when civil servants work for parties and at the same time their state pension entitlements continue to grow. The state government recently responded to a parliamentary question from the ranks of the Free Voters that a total of 167 state civil servants in Rhineland-Palatinate were on special leave as of January 28, 2026.

There had already been a debate in the country about the leave of absence practice in the case of state secretaries. In its 2022 annual report, the Rhineland-Palatinate Court of Auditors criticized the fact that state secretaries of three ministries had been granted special leave of 13 months to ten years or indefinitely.

Some time ago, the Free Voters led by top candidate Joachim Streit commissioned a report on the leave of absence practices of the three state secretaries. This saw evidence of infidelity in a particularly serious case.

The Mainz public prosecutor did not follow this. She explained that the leave of absence of civil servants and the recognition of special leave periods as pensionable periods of service were not criminally relevant breaches of duty. She did not initiate an investigation.