Green politician Anne Spiegel resigned from the cabinet after revelations that she had taken a four-week family holiday 10 days after deadly floods last year hit the state of Rhineland Palatinate, where she was environment minister at the time.

She explained that due to her difficult family situation – with a husband recovering from a stroke and four young children who had not had it easy during the pandemic – they were in great need of a break. She was represented by a deputy in meetings and was reachable throughout that period.

The explanation however did not fend off calls for her resignation from the opposition, and she stepped down on Monday. Her party and Chancellor Olaf Scholz from the Social Democrats (SPD) said they respected her decision.

Germany’s three-way coalition consists of the SPD, the Greens and the liberal FDP. Each party has a fixed allocation of ministerial posts. As Spiegel was from the Greens, the same party gets to nominate her successor.

Greens co-leader Ricarda Lang said on the issue of choosing a successor that “we need to clarify this question quickly.”

She told broadcaster RTL: “That means I don’t think we will still be dealing with this question over Easter.”

Talks were already under way within the party, she said.