state parliament
Bremen citizenship: First skirmish with rights
The members of the Bremen Parliament during the constituent session. photo
© Sina Schuldt/dpa
The new citizenship in Bremen has started its work. The deputies elected a new presidency – a motion by the right-wing parliamentary group Bündnis Deutschland was rejected by all other parties.
The new one is six and a half weeks after the state elections in Bremen State Parliament met for the first time. The outgoing President of the Parliament, Frank Imhoff (CDU), called on the 87 MPs to be role models for democracy. Parliament remains the place where major social controversies are negotiated.
The main thing of the constitutive meeting was the election of a new executive committee. The SPD, who won the election, nominated Antje Grotheer for the office of President of the City Parliament. She should get vices from the CDU and the Greens.
Before that, however, the right-wing parliamentary group Bündnis Deutschland, the former Bürger in Wut (BiW), requested a change in the rules of procedure. Accordingly, the chairmen of committees should only be named, not elected, said parliamentary group leader Jan Timke.
“To a large extent, your staff is simply too opaque for us”
SPD parliamentary group leader Mustafa Güngör replied that the election of the committee chairmen was deliberately intended to keep the Alliance Germany away from important posts. “To a large extent, your staff is simply too opaque for us,” he said. SPD, Greens, Left, CDU and FDP rejected the initiative of Alliance Germany. The right-wing populist citizens in rage were elected to parliament for the first time on May 14th.
In the election, the SPD under Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte had become the strongest force. SPD, Greens and Left Party want to continue governing the smallest federal state together. The election of the new Senate is due next Wednesday (July 5th).