BERLIN, Oct 12 (Reuters) – Baerbel Bas, Germany’s labour minister and co-head of the centre-left SPD party, will step down from both roles, she said in a statement on Monday.
“After my stepdaughter’s death, I realized that I need time to come to terms with my grief,” Bas said in a statement.
The minister, whose portfolio includes large parts of Germany’s welfare system, also cited intensified “public attacks” against her, including from the ranks of the SPD’s conservative coalition partners.
Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil, who is the SPD’s co-head with Bas, said in a statement: “The attacks against her during the past days of her mourning were inappropriate. That is unacceptable.”
It was not immediately clear who could follow Bas in her party and government offices. She said she would retain her mandate as a member of parliament.
(Reporting by Andreas Rinke and Thomas Seythal; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Ludwig Burger)
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