“Liberty”
Kubicki’s boat fails: Presidential colleagues on board
Wolfgang Kubicki also feels comfortable on the high seas. photo
© Daniel Löb/dpa
“Full speed ahead!” it should actually have been called on the boat of Bundestag Vice President and Captain Wolfgang Kubicki. But nothing came of it.
During a boat trip for the Bundestag Presidium, there was a problem on the Bundestag Vice President’s ship on the Baltic Sea Wolfgang Kubicki came. The FDP politician invited his presidential colleagues on board his eleven-meter-long motorboat.
“At some point a filter was closed, as they say,” said Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) in Kiel. “And that means he could no longer maintain the speed that we actually needed to get to the next appointment on time.”
Algae and seaweed had clogged a water filter, said Kubicki. This caused the machine to become too hot. He asked the water police to take over the presidency of the Bundestag on their boat “Falshöft”. This accompanied the excursion.
“We switched from the Liberty to the water police ship, as I said, on the open sea,” said Bas. “I’ve never done that.” She won’t soon forget the experience. “It was quite special.”
Kubicki as captain
Captain Kubicki stayed. “He then brought his boat into the harbor at a slow speed.” No member of the Presidium became seasick.
When asked how Kubicki was as captain, Bas said: “So very disciplined and he also stuck to the speed limit.”
The presidium had been visiting Kiel since Monday. The idea for the new format “Presidium on site” also came from the FDP politician, said Bas. Visits to the constituencies of the other five presidential colleagues are to follow; the next trip is planned for January to Vogtland.
In the north, the MPs talked to soldiers from the sailing training ship “Gorch Fock”, with local politicians and, on Wednesday, with students from the Altenholz high school. “I got pretty grilled,” Bas said.