“Attempted self-empowerment”
Uproar in the Health Committee: AfD occupies chairwoman’s seat
AfD MP Kay-Uwe Ziegler
© Christian Spicker / Imago Images
The MPs from the other parties refuse to allow the AfD to chair the health committee. She has now temporarily ignored it. The Greens speak of an “attack against democracy.”
The AfD has caused a scandal in the Bundestag’s Health Committee. According to information from star he has AfD MP Kay-Uwe Ziegler took the place of incumbent chairwoman Kirsten Kappert-Gonther (Greens) before the start of the meeting. According to sources from the SPD, Greens and FDP, he initially did not want to vacate the place.
As a result, the regular start of the meeting was delayed. The AfD politician added the term “committee chairman” to a sign with his name on it. The regular signs in the committees just say “Chairman.”
Since the beginning of the legislature, the democratic parties in three committees, including the one for health, have prevented an AfD representative from being elected as their chairman. The health committee is therefore headed by the actually deputy chairwoman Kappert-Gonther.
AfD is suing the Federal Constitutional Court
The Council of Elders actually negotiates which faction chairs which committee. If there is no agreement, the political groups select committees one after the other depending on their strength. However, the respective committee still has to confirm the chairman by election. In this way, the Interior, Health and Development Cooperation Committees fell to the AfD. In a letter from Ziegler to the members of the health committee, the star is available, it is said that the aim of the campaign is to “express the claim to the committee chairmanship more clearly than before at today’s committee meeting.”
The Federal Constitutional Court will next week address the question of whether the AfD has the right to chair the committees in the Bundestag. In an urgent decision in 2022, the court declared that it was not completely ruled out from the outset that the rights of the AfD faction were violated.
The other parties have also always denied an AfD candidate a majority for the symbolically important position of Bundestag Vice President. The judges in Karlsruhe have rejected the AfD’s corresponding lawsuits. The post was subject to the “subject to election by the MPs,” the statement said.
Green politician condemns “massive border crossing”
Acting committee chairwoman Kappert-Gonther condemned Wednesday’s incident: “The AfD’s attempts to disrupt the health committee today were a massive transgression of boundaries,” said the Green politician star. “The AfD has demonstrated its ignorance and disregard for democratic rules and customs in a new quality.”
This “significantly disrupted” the committee’s work. Secret, democratic elections for the presidency were often held there, in which no AfD candidate received a majority. “The attempted self-empowerment through the committee leadership is an attack on democracy,” the Green politician continued. Consequences would be examined.