Constitution
Karlsruhe examines the AfD’s right to chair committees
The highest German court wants to hear the matter today: The AfD faction is fighting at the Federal Constitutional Court for the chairmanship of several Bundestag committees. photo
© Uli Deck/dpa
In the past, positions in the Bundestag were usually distributed after an election without much fanfare. Things have changed since the AfD sat in the plenary session. Now the highest German court is negotiating this.
The AfD politician Stephan Brandner criticized in advance that the other factions, especially when visiting abroad, acted as if the opposition in Germany, including the AfD, were treated democratically. “But that’s wrong,” said the group’s second parliamentary manager. “Basically, almost any form of participation is made at least difficult, if not impossible, for us.”
Bundestag committees are named and appointed anew in each electoral period. Which faction chairs which committee is actually negotiated in the Council of Elders. If there is no agreement – as was the case after the election in September 2021 – an access order is calculated based on the strength of the factions. According to this, the parliamentary groups can alternately choose committees. The Interior and Health Committees as well as the Development Cooperation Committee fell to the AfD.
AfD candidates failed
The parliamentary groups then usually appoint the chair – an election is only held in the event of an objection. Accordingly, there were secret elections in all three committees on December 15, 2021 and all three AfD candidates clearly missed the required majority. A second attempt on January 12, 2022 ended with the same result. The deputy chairmen currently lead the affected committees.
An urgent application to the Constitutional Court to temporarily appoint the named AfD candidates as chairmen until a decision on the main matter was made was unsuccessful. However, in the resolution of May 2022, the Second Senate stated that it cannot be ruled out that the right to equal participation also extends to access to a management office.
It is therefore “not completely ruled out from the outset” that the group’s rights are violated. In the main proceedings, it must be clarified, among other things, whether the Bundestag’s rules of procedure allow a free election of chairs and whether the AfD parliamentary group’s legal positions could be affected by the Basic Law.
Committee chairs hold important positions
A second lawsuit by the AfD is also being negotiated, which concerns Brandner’s deselection as chairman of the legal committee in November 2019. He was dismissed after several self-triggered scandals – a unique event in the history of the Bundestag. The court rejected an urgent application from the parliamentary group to reinstate Brandner in May 2020 – on the grounds, among other things, that the AfD could reduce its impact by naming another candidate. At that time, however, it also referred to the principle of equal treatment of the political groups. An effective opposition should not rely on the goodwill of the majority.
Members of the parties represented in the Bundestag sit on the committees. They discuss specialist topics and prepare resolutions in the plenary session. In most cases, the responsibility of the committees corresponds to that of the federal ministries; for example, the Health Committee is responsible for issues relating to the Ministry of Health. “The committee chairmen have an important position,” it says on the Bundestag website. “They prepare, convene and lead the meetings.”
No right to a presidential position
It is not the only conflict over high positions in the Bundestag that the AfD is fighting with the other factions at the Constitutional Court. There was also a dispute over a position in the Bundestag presidency. The other parties had denied all AfD candidates the required majority for one of the deputy positions in a number of votes. Here the court decided in March 2022 that the right to equal consideration is subject to election by the other members of parliament. There is no unrestricted right to a place on the executive board.
Brandner said that the Basic Law states that the Bundestag elects the president and his deputies. According to the Bundestag’s rules of procedure, each parliamentary group is entitled to at least one vice-president. There is nothing to be found in the Basic Law about committee chairs. However, the rules of procedure make it clear that they are not elected, but rather “determined” according to the agreements in the Council of Elders, explained Brandner. “The regulations regarding committee chairmen are even more clearly in our favor than those regarding vice presidents.”