AfD lawmakers win rare ballot to chair committees
January 31, 2018
Alternative for Germany (AfD) lawmaker Peter Boehringer was elected as chairman of the Bundestag's Budget Committee on Wednesday, as German parliamentarians adjusted to life with their new parliamentary colleagues.
Boehringer was elected to head the committee in a rare open ballot. His fellow AfD lawmakers and members of the Free Democrats (FDP) voted in favor of his appointment, while the four members of the Left Party voted against and all other parties abstained.
Read more: Germany's AfD draws backlash for Bundestag committee chair nominees
Other committee ballots on Wednesday saw AfD lawmaker Stephan Brandner elected to lead the Legal Affairs Committee while the far-right party's Sebastian Münzenmaier will head the Tourism Committee.
Ballots for the role of committee head are unusual, with the three committee posts traditionally going to the largest opposition group in the parliament.
That now appears likely to be the AfD, as Chancellor Angela Merkel conservatives seek to strike a deal with the Social Democrats (SPD) to form a new "grand coalition" government of Germany's largest parties.
However, several members of the three committees forced the vote after they filed an official objection to the AfD's appointments, all of whom hail from the party's more extremist wing.
Boehringer's economic prejudices under scrutiny
The forced ballots raise questions about how lawmakers intend to deal with their new colleagues from the AfD. The party entered the Bundestag for the first time after taking almost 13 percent of the
Following the vote, Boehringer insisted that "the Budget Committee will be well managed and in a moderating way and, in my opinion, in a balancing way. Of course, we won't create a spectacle in the Budget Committee."
Eckhardt Rehberg, a budgetary spokesman for the conservatives, said he saw "more than a question mark behind Boehringer's character." The AfD politician is a vocal euro-skeptic and critic of the single European currency.
"Mr. Boehringer must prove that he is able to lead this committee with the necessary restraint and neutrality," Rehberg said. "There is disagreement among all parties over this, except within the AfD."
Committee members from the FDP argued that they only agreed to Boehringer's appointment "for formal reasons," while the Greens, who abstained, said there was no room for "hate, smearing and discrimination" on the committee.
Read more: AfD: What you need to know about Germany's far-right party
Left party member Gesine Lötzsch justified her objection by saying Boehringer had previously made racist and misogynist comments that made him unsuitable for the role of chairman.
Doubts surround other AfD committee heads
The AfD's other committee heads, Münzenmaier and Brandner, also found themselves marginalized since entering the Bundestag.
Münzenmaier was barred from joining the parliament's amateur football club Bundestag FC because of a six-month probation sentence he picked up for abetting an attack by football
Brandner has also been accused of making racist and sexist statements during his four years in Thuringia's state parliament.
On Thursday, the Bundestag is set to elect the chair of the committee that oversees the country's intelligence services. The AfD's nominee, former Berlin state prosecutor Roman Reusch, already lost a ballot last week after falling way short of 355 votes needed.
dm/sms (dpa, AP, Reuters)