The AfD has been fighting for its right to appoint committee chairmen in the Bundestag for some time now. It has once again been unsuccessful with Germany’s highest constitutional judges.
The AfD parliamentary group failed in the dispute over its right to chair committees in the Bundestag at the Federal Constitutional Court. Two AfD lawsuits against the organs were unsuccessful. The holding of elections to determine committee chairs and the removal of the chair of the Legal Affairs Committee are within the scope of the autonomy of the Bundestag’s rules of procedure, explained the presiding judge of the Second Senate, Doris König.
In the current legislative period, AfD candidates failed to achieve the required majority in elections for the chairmanship of three Bundestag committees. The parliamentary group therefore does not hold a committee chairmanship – although it would be entitled to three based on the strength of its parliamentary group. The AfD saw its rights to equal treatment as a parliamentary group, to effective opposition and to fair and loyal application of the rules of procedure of the German Bundestag violated and filed a constitutional complaint with the Senate in Karlsruhe (case no. 2 BvE 10/21).
AfD candidates failed in elections
Bundestag committees are renamed and filled in each legislative period. Which parliamentary group chairs which committee is actually negotiated in the Council of Elders. If there is no agreement – as after the federal election in September 2021 – an order of access is calculated based on the strength of the parliamentary groups. In this legislative period, the AfD thus gained control of the Interior and Health Committees as well as the Committee on Development Cooperation.
Because there was opposition, an election was held. Accordingly, there were secret elections in all three committees on December 15, 2021 – and all three AfD candidates clearly missed the required majority. A second attempt on January 12, 2022 ended with the same result. So far, the deputy chairmen have headed the committees concerned.
The highest German constitutional court also heard a lawsuit filed by the AfD against the ousting of the then chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee, Stephan Brandner, in November 2019 (case no. 2 BvE 1/20). After several scandals in the last legislative period, all committee members with the exception of the AfD MPs voted for his dismissal – a unique event in the history of the Bundestag. The lawsuit against the ousting was also unsuccessful on Wednesday.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
