The motion to dissolve the Brandenburg state parliament, tabled by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), has failed, highlighting a fractured political landscape and raising questions about the legitimacy of recent parliamentary shifts. The potential future coalition partners, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), decisively rejected the motion on Friday, while the recently splintered Basis Social Movement (BSW) faction, alongside the AfD, voted in favor.
The vote underscores the instability that has gripped the Brandenburg parliament following the abrupt collapse of the SPD-BSW coalition earlier this week. State Premier Dietmar Woidke, citing the disintegration of the BSW parliamentary group through defections and a perceived lack of commitment to the coalition, terminated the alliance. Woidke has staunchly ruled out snap elections, signaling his intention to govern with a minority administration, a prospect that hinges on securing a viable partnership with the CDU, which now holds a slender majority.
The AfD’s parliamentary group leader, Hans-Christoph Berndt, delivered a scathing critique, accusing the BSW of betraying the electorate. Berndt specifically targeted the movement of three BSW representatives, two of whom subsequently joined the SPD, arguing that these shifts disregard the will of the voters who elected them based on a different platform.
Adding further complexity, the BSW faction, in a marked and unprecedented move, voted in unison with the AfD on a separate resolution aimed at removing Jouleen Gruhn from her position as state parliament vice president. Gruhn, previously a BSW representative, defected to the SPD, a development the AfD seized upon to challenge the legitimacy of her election to the parliamentary presidency. While the motion ultimately failed, the incident exposes the deepening animosity and strategic alliances emerging within the fractured parliament. The AfD maintains that Gruhn’s subsequent party switch effectively nullifies the mandate upon which she was elected to the presidency, a claim that has fuelled accusations of political opportunism across the spectrum. The incident raises concerns surrounding the fluidity of party allegiances and their potential impact on representative democracy within Brandenburg.