Since it was founded in 2018, the AfD parliamentary group in the state parliament has shrunk from 22 to 16 MPs – most recently, parliamentary group leader Christian Klingen said goodbye. Now it is growing, there are 17 members again. As the President of the State Parliament Ilse Aigner (CSU) announced in the plenary session on Wednesday, the AfD has reported the admission of the previously non-attached Oskar Atzinger. The AfD politician from the Passau district had recently come to parliament as a replacement on the Lower Bavarian list for the deceased (last non-attached) Josef Seidl. There was no automatic inclusion in the parliamentary group, as this step was prevented by statutory hurdles. Accordingly, there would have to be a three-quarters majority for this, but this did not come about in one session due to absences and isolated reservations. In any case, the statutes have been changed accordingly, as faction groups confirmed when asked by SZ – Atzinger is on board, the trend of shrinking has even been reversed.
But this is more than a formality in view of the balance of power. In the fall, the new, by their own definition more moderate, parliamentary group headed by Klingen and Ulrich Singer came into office after a long dispute. With an internal majority, she replaced the camp around the previous chairwoman Katrin Ebner-Steiner. After the recent resignations, it was eight to eight in the group: stalemate. Atzinger, in turn, will most likely strengthen the group around Ebner-Steiner, i.e. the previous board with supporters. A two-thirds majority would be needed for an unscheduled re-election of the top leadership; however, when it comes to day-to-day votes such as agendas or lists of speakers, the incumbent board around Ulrich Singer is now in the minority and hardly assertive. Insiders believe that Atzinger is such a crosshead that he may not only vote for camp discipline. He recently caused a stir with his maiden speech on the Ukraine war. In any case, the first trials of strength in the camp struggle under the new conditions can already be expected in the coming weeks.