The left-wing faction in the Bundestag dissolved in December and thereby lost its faction status. The Union is therefore now calling for Vice President Pau to resign. But she has backing.
The Union parliamentary group has suggested that Bundestag Vice President Petra Pau from the Left Party give up her post. According to the advance report on Friday, parliamentary group vice-president Sepp Müller (CDU) justified the demand to “Spiegel” with the self-dissolution of the left-wing faction planned for December 6th. With the dissolution, Pau would have to resign from her position in the Bundestag presidency.
“I got to know Ms. Pau as a strong-character and consistent vice president,” said Müller. “That’s why she should remain consistent and resign as Vice President of the Bundestag when the left-wing faction is dissolved.” According to reports, Pau wants to keep her position so far.
President of the Bundestag provides support
Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) rejected the Union’s demand. She explained in Berlin that Pau had been re-elected to this office by the Bundestag with a large majority for the entire duration of the 20th electoral term. For her work in the Presidium of the Bundestag and as Chairwoman of the Internal Commission of the Council of Elders, the left-wing politician enjoys “not only cross-party support, but also my very personal high esteem and recognition,” emphasized the President of the Bundestag.
The parliamentary deputy Wolfgang Kubicki, appointed by the FDP, also defended Pau. “Petra Pau was elected by the majority of the German Bundestag at the suggestion of the Left parliamentary group,” the FDP politician told the Funke newspapers. She is not vice president of the Left, but of the German Bundestag. “It would have been a strong character not to make such a demand at all,” Kubicki added.
Left faction dissolves in December
The East Berlin MP Pau has been a member of the Bundestag since 1998 and has been Vice President of Parliament since 2006. At the beginning of this legislative period, she was again proposed by her group as parliamentary deputy and was later elected by the plenary session.
The previous Left faction in the Bundestag is now dissolving because the departure of Sahra Wagenknecht and other MPs means that the minimum strength for the formation of a faction is no longer achieved.