Wednesday, December 15, 2021
Update
Controversial committee personnel
AfD man Hess fails in the election to chair
The fact that the AfD could take over the chairmanship of the Interior Committee in the Bundestag is causing a stir in political Berlin. In a secret ballot, a majority of the committee is now putting a stop to the ambitions of MP Hess. And the AfD candidates also fail in other committees.
The AfD failed with its candidates for the chairmanship of three Bundestag committees. The Interior Committee rejected Martin Hess, who was nominated by the AfD parliamentary group, as chairman, as reported by participants in the constituent meeting of the committee. Previously – contrary to the usual procedure – it had been decided to decide on the chairmanship in a secret ballot. The Interior Committee deals with questions of internal security, civil protection and asylum policy. The 50-year-old Hess comes from Baden-Württemberg and is a police officer.
Unlike usual, there were also secret elections in other Bundestag committees on Wednesday. The candidates Jörg Schneider and Dietmar Friedhoff, who were also nominated by the AfD, failed in the health committee and in the committee for development cooperation.
AfD party leader and co-parliamentary group leader Tino Chrupalla spoke of a “fatal signal” for democratic culture and a systematic policy of exclusion. “We are dealing here with an arbitrary break in a parliamentary tradition.” Co-parliamentary group leader Alice Weidel referred to “millions of voters” who represent the AfD. “This is a breach of the democratic participation that we as a parliamentary group are entitled to.”
The domestic policy spokesman for the Union parliamentary group, Alexander Throm, confirmed that “the Union MPs” in the Interior Committee had also rejected Hess’ election. In the case of an MP who deliberately belittles political competitors as “old parties” and denounces the Union and the Greens as supporters of left-wing extremists, the necessary relationship of trust does not exist, “he added. Throm accused the Greens and the FDP of having allowed the chairmanship of this security-related committee to fall to the AfD.
Now it is the turn of the council of elders
According to information from members of the committee, six MPs voted for Hess, 40 against him. From the AfD there were therefore five members with voting rights in the hall. The chairmanship of the committees is usually assigned according to a certain mechanism: the largest group may choose a committee first, then the second largest, the third largest, and so on. This goes on over several rounds until the chairs of the committees are distributed. The largest opposition faction – now the CDU / CSU – traditionally holds the chairmanship of the budget committee. Before the AfD, the SPD, Greens and FDP were still on the train in the first round, although they elected other committees. This is how the AfD came originally to inside, health and development.
Usually the chairmen are seated with it. Votes are possible, however, if MPs object to the appeal. This was also the case in January 2018, for example, in the constituent meeting of the Legal Affairs Committee. The AfD MP Stephan Brandner received the necessary majority in a secret ballot, but was recalled in November 2019 after MPs from other parliamentary groups attested to him on the basis of statements on social media that he had neither the human nor the political aptitude for the chairmanship.
By contrast, Peter Boehringer of the AfD had headed the budget committee until the end of the legislative period. However, the prospect of an AfD chairman for the Interior Committee had caused a lot of unease in other groups. The committee has access to sensitive security information and is in contact with the security authorities, including the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. In some federal states, parts of the AfD are under surveillance by the authorities because of suspicion of extremism.
If the person proposed for chairmanship is not elected in a committee, this will then be negotiated in the council of elders, the Bundestag administration announced on request. According to the regulations of the Bundestag, Bundestag Vice-President Petra Pau is now acting as chairman of the Interior Committee until a new chairman is elected.