SPD former chancellor
Schröder is suing the Bundestag for the loss of special rights
Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder does not want to accept the loss of his special rights. photo
© Kay Nietfeld/dpa
In the spring, the Budget Committee of the Bundestag revoked former Chancellor Schröder’s right to an office and employees. He now wants to get his privileges back – in court.
Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) is suing the Bundestag for the restoration of the special rights that were revoked in May. The 78-year-old demands that a former Chancellor’s office with employees be made available to him again, as his Hanoverian lawyer Michael Nagel told the German Press Agency on Friday.
The lawsuit was filed with the Berlin administrative court, said Nagel. The decision of the Bundestag Budget Committee to cut Schröder’s funds for equipping his office in the Bundestag and to put the office on hold is illegal, according to a statement by the law firm available to dpa.
It is “claimed that former Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder no longer takes care of the so-called “after-effects of official duties”. “However, it is not specified what “long-term official duties” actually are, how their perception or non-perception is to be determined and what procedure is otherwise to be followed,” the statement continues.
Schröder: Decisions reminiscent of “absolutistic princely state”
The whole process is “written on the forehead that reasons other than those specified by the “new rules” were decisive for the decision of the budget committee”. Such decisions are more reminiscent of an absolutist princely state “in terms of the way they came about” and should not last in a democratic constitutional state, Schröder’s lawyers explained.
The former chancellor has been heavily criticized for his commitment to Russian energy companies and his closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, the Budget Committee did not justify the partial cancellation of Schröder’s privileges with his work for the energy companies or his attitude to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
Rather, the “equipment of former chancellors should be carried out according to the ongoing obligations from the office,” says the regulation. Apparently, the parliamentarians could not see this in Schröder. Last year, more than 400,000 euros flowed from the state coffers for personnel expenses in Schröder’s office. Schröder will continue to receive his pension of 8,300 euros after the decision, as well as personal security.
Constitutional lawyer: Schröder’s lawsuit unfounded
Constitutional lawyer Joachim Wieland considers the lawsuit by the ex-chancellor to be legally unfounded. “The lawyer Gerhard Schröders acts as if the former chancellor had a legal right to the office and employees. But there is no such thing,” he told the editorial network Germany (RND). “The Budget Committee is free to make its own decisions here.” It is different with the ex-chancellor’s pension, which Schröder is entitled to by law.
FDP housekeeper Otto Fricke defended the budget committee’s decision. “As householders, we always have to make sure that this money is used wisely – and that was no longer the case with the former chancellor’s office,” he told RND. Bundestag Vice President Wolfgang Kubicki also reacted calmly. “I think the probability of Gerhard Schröder’s lawsuit against the German Bundestag being successful is extremely low, but it is his right to have this checked by a court,” said the deputy FDP chairman of the German Press Agency.
Chancellor Scholz stands behind the decision
Government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit commented: “Basically, legal recourse is open to everyone in a legal dispute.” Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) welcomed the committee’s decision in May as “logical”. A large majority of the European Parliament voted in favor of sanctions against Schröder. On Monday, the SPD arbitration committee in Schröder’s hometown of Hanover rejected the expulsion of the former chancellor from the party.
The CSU denied Schröder any decency because of his lawsuit. “As a Putin lobbyist, he definitely does not represent any German interests. He wants special rights for this at the expense of the taxpayer? Brazen!” Secretary General Martin Huber wrote on Twitter. Alluding to the verdict of the arbitration commission, he added: “But he is still very welcome in the SPD.”