Union and SPD contradict Rhine: No support for AfD in committee chairmanship elections
Quick Look
- Hesse's Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU) had suggested supporting AfD candidates in elections for the chairmanship of Bundestag committees.
- The Union and SPD factions contradict this proposal and emphasize that there is no right to a committee chairmanship and that AfD applicants have not yet received a majority.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The AfD is represented in the Bundestag, but its MPs have not yet received a majority for election to chair Bundestag committees. However, in some state parliaments, such as the Hessian state parliament, AfD MPs have already been elected committee chairmen.
The Union and SPD factions contradict Hesse's Prime Minister Boris Rhein's (CDU) plea for a different approach to the AfD in the Bundestag. Rhein had spoken out in favor of supporting AfD candidates in elections for the chairmanship of Bundestag committees.
"The party is elected, and that's how you should treat it," said Rhein in a previously published interview with the star. The following must apply to the Union: “We clearly differentiate ourselves from the AfD, but we do not exclude the party.” He also pointed out that AfD members of the Hessian state parliament and other state parliaments had been elected chairmen of specialist committees.
The parliamentary secretary of the Union faction, Catarina dos Santos-Wintz, told the AFP news agency that there was no right to chair a committee. The committee members elected their chairmen themselves, said dos Santos-Wirtz. Members of the AfD were unable to prevail with their offer in the German Bundestag. That could definitely be different in state parliaments. The domestic policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, Sebastian Fiedler, also argued that the candidates proposed by the AfD so far had not received the necessary majority in the committees.
This article will continue to be updated.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
The AfD will continue to have difficulty obtaining a majority in elections for the chairmanship of Bundestag committees in the future as long as other factions do not support their candidates.
Likely · Within months
Open Questions
- Will the AfD be successful in elections for committee chairs in the Bundestag in the future?
- How will the debate about how to deal with the AfD continue in parliament?
- Are there plans to change the Bundestag's rules of procedure regarding committee chair elections?
