The AfD has repeatedly managed to send the traffic light coalition duped into the summer break with a “ram’s leap”. What went wrong?
The holidays are within reach, the members of the Bundestag are ready for vacation – and the AfD is keen to take advantage of the situation and to give the traffic light coalition a lesson. It worked.
The Bundestag said goodbye to the summer break on Friday afternoon without a quorum. After a so-called mutton leap at the request of the AfD, the energy efficiency law could no longer be brought to the target: There were not enough members of parliament present. For the factions of the traffic light government, the process represented the embarrassing final point of an already messed-up week.
That’s what the AfD had planned. It often uses the procedural trick to demonstrate parliamentarianism as a whole. In this respect it was an expected manoeuvre. What went wrong?
First of all, to understand: the mutton jump is about determining the quorum of the Bundestag. According to the rules of procedure, this is only the case if more than half of its members are present. At least 369 MPs are currently needed for this. On Friday afternoon, the AfD parliamentary group had doubted that this quorum would be reached, which is why the SPD Bundestag Vice President Aydan Özoguz, as the chair of the meeting, ordered the mutton jump.
As they do so, MEPs leave the meeting room and return through various doors marked “yes”, “no” and “abstain”. Clerks at the doors count the votes or the members of parliament – like counting sheep. The result on Friday: Only 241 MPs were still gathered under the Reichstag dome, too few to pass the law.
Actually, the number of those present would have been even higher, but many AfD MPs refused to be counted by returning to the plenum through a side entrance. “Not exactly parliamentary behavior,” complained chairwoman Özoguz – but it was a guarantee that the AfD plan worked: the Bundestag did not have a quorum on the last item on the agenda of the last day of the session before the summer break. And the traffic light factions duped: too many of their deputies had apparently already left instead of securing the legislative process with their presence.
SPD politician Ortleb criticizes the actions of the AfD
To a certain extent, the AfD has a subscription to using the mutton jump for its purposes at the right moment. Even before the summer break in 2022, in the penultimate session at half past one in the morning, she had organized a similar show. The traffic light groups could have guessed that the right-wing populists could be repeatedly tempted to show them off in the final sprint.
“The AfD has abused the rules of procedure and the customs of Parliament to convey the image to the outside world that the Bundestag would not achieve anything. The opposite is the case,” says Josephine Ortleb zum star. The parliamentary director of the SPD parliamentary group emphasizes that the governing parties would usually win. “Our group works in shifts to ensure quorum,” explains Ortleb. She calls it “annoying” that it wasn’t enough on Friday. But it is also true that MPs from the opposition were no longer present. In addition, a large part of the AfD could not be counted. “It’s almost impossible to guarantee a quorum in the Bundestag,” says Ortleb. “This circumstance was exploited.”
It is also part of those parliamentary practices that the managers of the parliamentary groups agree with each other how many MPs are to be sent to vote. The respective majorities are taken into account in the agreements. Fewer MEPs are often present on the last day of the session week. The quorum of the Bundestag is nevertheless preserved – if nobody questions it.
Ortleb announces that they want to be better prepared for this case in the future. “We will once again urge the SPD parliamentary group to show even more presence as the strongest force in the government and chancellor’s party.”
Johannes Vogel, the FDP’s first parliamentary director, had previously complained about the “absolutely unparliamentary behavior” of the AfD. “The Planner PGFs (Abbreviation for Parliamentary Secretary) of the coalition will discuss measures on how we can avoid a repetition,” he told Table.Media.
Vogel appeased that the Energy Efficiency Act could be passed “without any problems” in the fall, so no real damage was caused. However, the defeat should not have left its mark on the image of the traffic light, which has left a sometimes chaotic impression in recent weeks.
In the case of a mutton leap, the coalition must gain time
The parliamentary instrument of the mutton leap is not new. The procedure was introduced in 1874 in the Reichstag of the Imperial Era. Although the term has never officially found its way into the rules of procedure of Parliament, it has been used for a long time – according to the Bundestag administration, it was first documented for the year 1879.
Since then there have been numerous mutton leaps, which should sometimes annoy political opponents. In October 2012, for example, the SPD, Greens and Left Party prevented the first reading on childcare allowance from taking place with a bang. At the time, an unpleasant gossip for the black and yellow coalition.
July 2020: Helge Braun (M., CDU), Head of the Federal Chancellery, and Paul Ziemiak, CDU General Secretary, are standing in front of the plenary hall together with numerous other members of the Bundestag during the mutton jump
© Bernd von Jutrczenka/ / Picture Alliance
There was also a mutton leap in the vote on the coal phase-out in July 2020. The Bundestag Presidium was at odds as to whether there had been a majority for the bill in the previous ordinary vote (which is first and foremost cause for a mutton leap). This case also made headlines because the Corona rules in force at the time were less (or not at all) observed when the MPs returned to the plenary hall.
With every jump, the governing coalition has to stretch the procedure as long as possible. The goal: to gain time so that MPs who are otherwise busy can rush into the plenary session to ensure a quorum – sometimes with dedicated effort. The Green MP Katharina Beck, for example, had her toddler in tow on Friday. “For some, a mutton jump later on Friday afternoon also means adjusting their plans with the little ones,” she wrote on Twitter. It was of no use: the necessary quorum was not reached and the session was terminated prematurely.