In mid-May, the budget committee of the Bundestag decided to withdraw some of Gerhard Schröder’s special rights as former chancellor. Schröder does not want to let this sit on him.
Gerhard Schröder (SPD) does not want to accept the decision by the budget committee of the Bundestag to abolish his former chancellor privileges.
In a letter to the chairman of the committee, Helge Braun (CDU), Schröder’s lawyer asked for a “verifiable and therefore appealable decision” to be sent to him. The letter was available to the German Press Agency. The news portal “The Pioneer”, “Bild” and the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” had previously reported on it.
The letter states that the former chancellor learned “through the media” that his office “should be put on hold” and “the positions assigned to the office should be “wound up”. And further: “This decision is based on the finding that he no longer perceives any “ongoing obligations from the office”. However, no further justification is given for this finding. “This may be due to the fact that another reason was actually responsible for the withdrawal of these “privileges”. It also says: “A decision by the budget committee, as can be seen in the media, is evidently illegal and unconstitutional.”
“No longer acceptable public ‘hunting'”
At the same time, the lawyer made it clear in the letter that “despite the now no longer acceptable public “hunting”” on his client, he was not concerned with a legal dispute. On the contrary, he would “be happy about the chance of being able to reach an agreement acceptable to all sides “on an equal footing” by means of a discussion”. The addressed budget committee chairman, Helge Braun, initially did not comment on this when asked.
Schröder, a long-time friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has repeatedly come under pressure because of his connections to Russia. After the Russian attack on Ukraine, this increased further. Several motions to expel the party were made.
More than 400,000 euros flowed out of the state coffers
In mid-May, the budget committee voted to close the former chancellor’s office. Last year, more than 400,000 euros flowed from the state treasury for personnel expenses in Schröder’s office. According to the committee decision, the former chancellor is still entitled to a pension and personal protection.
Schröder’s connections to Russian corporations or Putin were not mentioned in the motion approved by the budget committee. The background was the fear that this would be legally vulnerable.
“Don’t let the German taxpayer ‘support'”
The legal policy spokesman for the Union parliamentary group, Günter Krings (CDU), rejected the legal reservations put forward by Schröder’s lawyer and brought further measures against Schröder into play. The budget committee’s decision was “consistent and correct,” Krings told the Handelsblatt. “But it is now high time that the Bundestag also acts as a legislator, so that the former Chancellor’s retirement benefits are also canceled,” he said. Those who let themselves be put up with the system of Russian President Putin cannot at the same time allow themselves to be “supported” by the German taxpayer.
The Göttingen constitutional lawyer Hans Michael Heinig classified the procedure of the budget committee, also in an interview with the Handelsblatt, as legal. He could “not see any starting point for the fact that there is a constitutional right to a lasting official equipment,” said Heinig. The office equipment had been granted in accordance with previous state practice for “representational tasks in the interests of the Federal Republic of Germany”. Therefore, there should be consequences if the former chancellor “permanently undermines the further performance of such tasks” through his own behavior.
The Vice President of the German Bundestag, Wolfgang Kubicki, also considers the former Chancellor’s protest to be legally unfounded. “It is completely legitimate for Gerhard Schröder to examine all legal means if he believes his rights have been violated,” Kubicki told the newspapers of the Funke media group. “In my view, the legal basis on which the budget committee relies in the decision to deny the former chancellor the office is sufficient.”
In an interview with Funke, Kubicki generally spoke out against providing former Chancellors with an office on a permanent basis. “Basically, we need to examine whether former officers need a consistent level of office and staffing for life, or whether this may be reduced to zero over time,” he said.
Source: Stern
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