A parliamentary session turns into a political crisis: The AfD and four other factions argue about simple rules and the election of the state parliament president. Now the Constitutional Court is to decide.
“Hard to bear”, “shameful”, “scandalous”, “destructive”: The first session of the Thuringian state parliament descended into chaos with calls for order, interruptions, rhythmic clapping by MPs, loud laughter and shouts of “violation of the law!” It became a permanent confrontation between a strengthened AfD with its right-wing extremist Björn Höcke at the helm and the four other factions CDU, BSW, Left and SPD – and ended with the CDU faction appealing to the Constitutional Court.
The parliamentary manager of the CDU, Andreas Bühl, spoke of the last resort to ensure that Thuringia’s parliament is able to function at all. The session was then adjourned until the highest Thuringian judges had made their decision. The parliament is expected to make a second attempt on Saturday.
Democracy by the nose
“It is a catastrophe how the AfD is leading democracy around by the nose,” complained the parliamentary group leader of Wagenknecht’s party, Katja Wolf. CDU man Bühl said: “What you are doing here is a seizure of power.”
After many hours, the state parliament had still not managed to at least determine whether it had a quorum. The plan was actually to elect a state parliament president – that was ultimately what the showdown was about. The AfD, as the strongest faction with 32 of 88 representatives, insisted on its right to propose candidates. The CDU and BSW wanted to achieve a rule change so that all factions could propose candidates for the second highest state office.
They did not want to give the AfD, which is classified as proven right-wing extremist by the state constitutional protection agency in Thuringia, the top office in parliament. But it did not come to that. “It shows that the oldest member of parliament is not acting impartially, but rather as a Höcke puppet and he is trampling on democracy in the upper house,” said CDU parliamentary group leader Mario Voigt.
What happened in the state parliament
The AfD’s oldest member, Jürgen Treutler, spoke for several hours. He responded to requests from the other factions to at least establish the quorum with repeated, long interruptions. Treutler refused to give the floor to members of parliament. “I’m withdrawing your right to speak,” he said to Bühl, for example. The first session of the Thuringian state parliament, just four weeks after the election, thus became the expected political spectacle and a tug-of-war between the AfD, which for the first time has the strongest faction in Germany, and the CDU, BSW, Left Party and SPD on the other side.
Janine Merz, parliamentary manager of the SPD, accused Treutler of not only restricting the rights of MPs, but of taking them away. “You have caused great damage to the state parliament,” said CDU MP Bühl, addressing Treutler. “You have exaggerated your role as the oldest member of parliament.” The parliamentary manager of the BSW, Tilo Kummer, was even more explicit: “You are declaring this parliament to be incompetent.” Treutler’s behavior violates “the free exercise of the mandate of all 88 MPs here in the House.”
Accusation of violating the constitution
CDU member Bühl stressed that Treutler sees not only the rights of MPs but also the principle of democracy being restricted, as voting has been prevented. The oldest member of parliament has violated the constitution in several places. It is also about protecting democratic action and the reputation of the institutions.
Bühl said that they wanted to apply to the Constitutional Court for a temporary injunction so that Treutler could proceed according to the agenda drawn up by the previous President of the State Parliament and hold a vote on the amendment to the Rules of Procedure.
AfD MP and co-state party leader Stefan Möller accused the MPs from the CDU, BSW, Left and SPD of having thrown “all rules of decency” overboard. The meeting was a disaster, said Möller. He rejected accusations against the actions of the oldest member of parliament. There are different legal opinions on the course of the meeting. “If necessary, we will have to clarify this in court.”
The state parliament session was also somehow influenced by an event that happened a good four years ago: In Thuringia, many still remember the 2020 state premier election, when the AfD put up a fake candidate whom it did not elect, but instead helped to hoist FDP politician Thomas Kemmerich into office.
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
