Berlin, Germany – The Left and the Greens have joined the Union and the SPD in rejecting the AfD’s demand for a vice-president of the German Bundestag. “We will not elect an AfD member as vice-president of the Bundestag in this legislative period” said Christian Görke, parliamentary manager of the Left faction, in an interview with the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland.
In the previous legislative period, it was a consensus among the democratic factions. “I hope and will urge the other democratic factions to maintain this consensus” Görke added.
The Greens’ parliamentary manager, Irene Mihalic, emphasized that the faction will not deviate from its previous practice. “Each member is only accountable to their own conscience in the election of the vice-president” Mihalic said to the RND. In the past, the AfD’s proposed candidates had failed to gain a majority, according to the Green politician.
The Union also reaffirmed its stance, stating that “Karlsruhe has clarified that the right of a faction to propose a vice-president is subject to the election by the members of the Bundestag” as parliamentary manager Thorsten Frei told the RND. This election remains secret and free, the CDU politician said, adding that the parliamentarians will decide whether a candidate or a candidate is convincing.
Traditionally, the largest faction proposes a person for the office of Bundestag president, which in the new legislative period will be the CDU/CSU. The other factions are represented in the presidium with deputies, except for the AfD, which has not gained a majority for one of its candidates since 2017.
AfD leader Alice Weidel had demanded after the AfD’s vote share doubled in the Bundestag election that “we should not be denied the Bundestag vice-president.” Already on Wednesday, Lars Klingbeil, the new SPD faction leader, declared that “there will be no vote from Social Democrats for a vice-president from the AfD in this parliament.”
According to a pre-publication by the FAS, CDU leader and Chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz also stated that “this is a state office. And I will not recommend to the Union faction that an AfD member or an AfD member be elected to a state office.