While the population’s recovered status after a corona infection was reduced to three months, there is an exception in the Bundestag: MPs are still considered recovered for six months. This provokes sharp criticism.
Six months instead of three: Legal experts and politicians criticize the exception for members of the Bundestag in the generally tightened convalescent regulation. The constitutional law expert Christian Hillgruber from the University of Bonn told the “Bild” (Wednesday edition) that there was no justification for the “unequal treatment” of citizens and politicians: “Either the shortening of the convalescent status is necessary from a technical and health point of view or not, MP status or not.”
The FDP health expert Christine Aschenberg-Dugnus told the newspaper: “There must be no special regulations in the Bundestag.” She called for the underlying general decree to be changed – if possible in the next few days.
AfD criticizes “extra sausage for MPs” in the Bundestag
CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt said “Bild”: “To reduce the recovered status to three months in a technically questionable manner, but to leave it at six months for the Bundestag is outrageous.”
The AfD had previously criticized the Bundestag’s decision that the convalescent status in Parliament should continue to apply for six months – and not just three months as recently determined by the Robert Koch Institute. AfD MP Stephan Brandner spoke in Berlin of an “extra sausage for MPs”. He also generally criticized the shortening of the validity of the convalescent status from six to three months by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
When asked, a Bundestag spokesman justified this by saying that the general decree issued for Parliament before the change by the RKI was still valid, and according to the current status until the end of February. However, it is also continuously analyzed beforehand “whether changes to the general decree are announced”.
Criticism of shortening the convalescent status
However, this only refers to the access rights to the plenum and committees. According to the spokesman, however, the normal occupational health and safety regulation applies to other activities in the Bundestag properties and thus the convalescent status is valid for three months. The 3G rule applies to visitors to the Bundestag building anyway.
Bundestag Vice President Wolfgang Kubicki (FDP) spoke in the magazine “Spiegel” in favor of holding on to the six months for the members of parliament. However, Kubicki fundamentally opposed the reduction of the convalescent status by the RKI, which, in his words, “has not yet been adequately scientifically justified”.
The RKI’s decision is otherwise controversial, mainly because it was announced at very short notice. During their consultations with Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), the prime ministers of the federal states agreed on Monday that such changes would be made a little longer in advance in order not to create uncertainty. The RKI justified the shortening with the fact that, especially with the current omicron variant, those who have recovered only have a shorter protection against renewed corona infection.
Source From: Stern
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