corona pandemic
Mandatory vaccination vote in the Bundestag: This is the chance for the compromise proposal
On Thursday, April 7th, the Bundestag wants to vote on the general obligation to vaccinate. It is quite possible that there is a surprising constellation
© Michael Kappeler / DPA
At the last minute, the proponents of compulsory vaccination have gathered behind a joint proposal. However, when it comes to a vote in Parliament, it is by no means certain that the compromise will find a majority. A failure would crown the federal government’s recently indecisive corona policy.
The compromise proposal has been on the table since Tuesday. A bastard born out of necessity that nobody really wants. Instead of compulsory vaccination at 18 or compulsory vaccination at 50, vaccination is now compulsory from the age of 60. It stipulates that people aged 60 and over should be required to have two vaccinations by October. However, it can be suspended by a Bundestag resolution in June if the vaccination rate has been increased sufficiently. In the fall, given the prevailing findings and potential virus variants, the Bundestag should also decide “whether the activation of the obligation to provide proof of vaccination for age groups from 18 years of age should also take effect”.
It all sounds rather complicated. And it is, mainly thanks to the reluctance of the traffic light coalition to submit its own proposal for compulsory vaccination and to push it through with the stable coalition majority. But because the FDP has taken up the cause of freedom instead of Corona, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, actually a self-confessed advocate of compulsory vaccination, had to bow to the will of the small coalition partner and approved the vote. With the unwelcome consequences that initially five and now four motions are still up for vote – and the vaccination requirement in Parliament may run out of air tomorrow.
So far, the compromise has not won a majority
There are some indications. Around 240 (obligatory vaccination from the age of 18) and around 45 MPs (obligatory vaccination from the age of 50) had recently gathered behind the two original proposals. That is certainly not enough for acceptance, even if a simple majority is sufficient in the vote. So it is not necessary for at least 369 of the 736 MPs to vote for it, but it would be enough if more of the MPs present voted yes than no. The alleged 285 compromise supporters would theoretically be opposed to 197 MEPs from the Union, 80 from the AFD and around 50 from the group around the FDP Vice Wolfgang Kubicki. The vaccination compromise would only go through fairly safely if the Union abstained. After that it doesn’t look like it at all.
On the one hand, the parliamentary group has its own application in the running, which provides for a graduated procedure and initially the introduction of a vaccination register. On the other hand, party and parliamentary group leader Friedrich Merz and other Union politicians have already announced that they will not be available as majority procurers this time – unlike, for example, with the Bundeswehr special fund. These are “messed up compromises that the coalition has to make because they don’t agree among themselves,” Merz said on Deutschlandfunk. This shows “how things are currently governed,” said the CDU leader, namely “short of breath” and with “decisions that are not valid for 48 hours”. Merz also related this to the U-turn by Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) on the obligation to isolate (which you can find out more about here).
The SPD deputy Dirk Wiese, one of the initiators of the original “mandatory from 18″ proposal” hopes that significant numbers of deputies from the CDU/CSU will support the current compromise. The proposal of the two groups envisages “the same age limit, as the Union request and includes also the Union proposal for a vaccination register”.
Does the order of voting on compulsory vaccination decide?
In view of the diffuse majorities, the order of voting is already an important factor. Normally, the motion that deviates furthest from the current rule is voted on first. In this case, that would be the compromise on compulsory vaccination from 60. But the traffic light parties are apparently considering reversing the order by decision. Then the AfD application for the categorical rejection of compulsory vaccination would be the first, and the compromise the last. Previously undecided MPs would have to make a decision at the last minute.
After all: Health Minister Lauterbach is confident that the compromise proposal will find a majority in the Bundestag. “It’s very likely that we’ll get through this,” said the SPD politician on the ZDF program “Markus Lanz”. And yet he has already been prepared to face demands for his resignation: If there is no majority, it would be a “severe defeat”, but no reason for him to resign, said Lauterbach.