Seat in Parliament
Stefan Seidler from SSW: This is the lone warrior in the new Bundestag
© Axel Heimken / DPA
A seat for a single fighter: Stefan Seidler has moved into the Bundestag for the South Schleswig Association of Voters (SSW). The party represents a national minority. Seidler wants to stand up for them in parliament.
He played no role in the arithmetic games for coalitions. Nevertheless, his vote could gain weight sometime in the next four years: Stefan Seidler is an exotic figure in the new parliament. He is the only member of the Bundestag for the Südschleswigschen Voters’ Association (SSW), and he is determined to maintain his independence in parliament.
“I will certainly work with one or the other parliamentary group on individual issues,” said Seidler, 42, the German press agency. Most recently, he had talks with SPD parliamentary group leader Rolf Mützenich and other parliamentary groups in the Bundestag. The SSW had been received very positively and there were also offers of cooperation.
Seidler is keeping open a possible co-election of the SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz. Should a coalition agreement between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP also contain references to minority politics, “then it could well be that my vote would also support the new Chancellor Scholz”. That is currently still completely open. As an example, he cited the anchoring of the rights of national minorities in the Basic Law.
For the first time in 70 years in the Bundestag again
The party made up of the Danish and Frisian minorities entered the Bundestag for the first time in around 70 years in the Bundestag election on September 26th. Seidler wants to stand up in the Bundestag especially for the minorities and the interests of Schleswig-Holstein and also promote Scandinavian solution models.
For the first time in 60 years, the SSW took part in a federal election. As a party of a national minority, the SSW is exempt from the five percent hurdle. He just has to win enough votes that he is entitled to a seat according to the calculation process. 3.2 percent in the north was enough for a mandate. The SSW currently holds three seats in the Kiel state parliament. He was also part of the state government in Schleswig-Holstein. The SSW is by no means a blank slate.
In the Bundestag, Seidler will sit between the SPD and the Greens. As a non-attached MP, the father of two will not be able to initiate any legislative initiatives or request plenary debates. The 41-year-old from Flensburg can, however, like any non-attached member of parliament, sit on committees as an advisory member with the right to speak and submit proposals.