After being ejected from the plenary chamber on Thursday, Left Party Bundestag representative Marcel Bauer expressed surprise at the actions of Deputy Federal President Andrea Lindholz (CSU). “That I was excluded by Deputy President Lindholz without a reference to a legal basis was surprising to me. Because I have so far participated in all sessions of the House with the cap without any resulting disciplinary measures” Bauer told the “Welt” (Saturday edition).
“It is still not understandable to me why the wearing of fascist symbols such as the cornflower should not have so much infringed on the dignity of the House and consequently remained unaddressed. Also, let it be remembered that today’s Minister Dorothee Bär wore Bavarian kit and the corresponding advertising slogans in Parliament and was only criticized.” In May 2015, Bär appeared in the Bundestag wearing FC-Bayern kit.
A Bundestag spokesperson stated: “It is an act of discretion, which the incumbent President or the incumbent President makes under consideration of the respective circumstances in the concrete individual case.” So, in the past, there have also been time-limited approvals of head coverings for medical reasons.
Deputy Federal President Lindholz defended her actions: “Removing caps corresponds to the rules of decorum and the dignity of the House. It is customary practice in the German Bundestag, unless, for example, it is indicated for medical reasons.”
The parliamentary director of the Union group, Steffen Bilger (CDU), said that respect should begin with clothing, not just during speeches. “It is obvious that the representative of the Left Party lacks the necessary respect for the High House.”
The parliamentary director of the SPD group, Dirk Wiese, said: “The German Bundestag is the heart of our democracy. Here it is particularly important to uphold the dignity of the House.” The representatives work for the citizens – “and this with respect” Wiese added. “The plenary chamber is therefore the wrong place for bathing suits, bikinis, or caps.”
The Left Party and the Greens declined to comment on the matter to the “Welt.”
Bernd Baumann, parliamentary director of the AfD, called for an adaptation of the dress code in the Bundestag. “What is a given in upscale restaurants – a dress code – is often not the case in the plenary of the Bundestag.” The only limit in the parliament is the “dignity of the House.” “If every representative at least wore a suit jacket, a lot would be achieved. A dress code that explicitly lays down such things and is enforced would therefore be helpful” Baumann said.
Sophie Schönberger, a professor of public law at the Heinrich-Heine-University in Düsseldorf, said that an exclusion from a session is a “serious infringement on the rights of representatives.” This can only be justified if “constitutive goods” are protected. “I cannot see here, how the wearing of a cap infringes on such a good. I therefore consider the decision to be obviously unconstitutional.”
A clarification of the house rules cannot solve the problem, Schönberger added. “Because it is not within the power of the Bundestag to make clothing regulations. The free choice of clothing is also fundamentally part of the free exercise of the mandate. Here, only extreme limits can be set, which safeguard the rights of representatives and the principle of proportionality.