[Domestic Politics] The CDU no longer wants to be in a just State - The BSW does not want to be in Opposition

After the state election in Thuringia a scandal erupted during the election of the parliamentary president. A coalition consisting of the CDU and BSW was formed to fought the AfD. The resulting maneuver is both highly questionable and obviously pre-arranged.

The first Session

On September 26, 2024 the newly elected Thuringian state parliament met for the first time. It is customary in all German state parliaments in the Bundestag that the oldest member opens the constituent session and has the state parliament president elected. The office of the state parliament president is a more ceremonial and organizational function. He chairs the plenary sessions of parliament in rotation with his deputies but has no special rights when it comes to voting. [1] [2]

Die stärkste Fraktion schlägt ein Mitglied des Landtags für die Wahl zur Präsidentin beziehungsweise zum Präsidenten vor. Die anderen Fraktionen schlagen jeweils ein Mitglied des Landtags für die Wahl zur Vizepräsidentin beziehungsweise zum Vizepräsidenten vor, sodass jede Fraktion im Vorstand des Landtags mit einem Mitglied vertreten ist.
The strongest parliamentary group proposes a member of the state parliament for election as president. The other parliamentary groups each propose a member of the state parliament for election as vice president, so that each parliamentary group is represented on the executive board of the state parliament by one member.
[1, p.4]

The Scandal

However the election of the President of the State Parliament did not take place and the session descended into chaos. The CDU faction wanted to have the rules of procedure changed before this vote. The oldest member of the state parliament, Jürgen Treutler (AfD) was interrupted several times and the CDU parliamentary manager Andreas Bühl accused the AfD of "seizing power (Machtergreifung)". A term associated with the Nazis. It is striking that the microphones of those who were causing disruption were not turned off, even though the oldest member of the state parliament had ordered this. [2]

The CDU faction then appealed to the Thuringian Constitutional Court. The CDU accused the oldest member of parliament Treutler (AfD) of violating the rights of the faction, individual MPs and the parliament. This led to the session being cancelled. The Thuringian Constitutional Court then ruled against the AfD and ruled that parliament must vote on a change of the rules of procedure. [2] [3]

Jörg Geibert's behavior is striking. He is a judge at the Thuringian Constitutional Court and has a son named Lennart Geibert (CDU). Lennart Geibert is a member of the Thuringian state parliament. Jörg Geibert voted in the relevant judgment instead of declaring himself biased. In addition the chairman of the CDU parliamentary group Mario Voigt issued a power of attorney on behalf of his parliamentary group on September 25, 2024 so before the scandal. He hereby authorized Philipp Austermann to represent the CDU parliamentary group before the Constitutional Court. The scandal was therefore probably planned and at least prepared. [3] [4] [5]

The second Session

When the state parliament met again the CDU of all parties submitted a motion to change the rules of procedure with the BSW which was passed with 55 yes votes. The right to propose the president of the state parliament no longer lies with the strongest faction which is the AfD. Instead all factions can now propose a candidate in the first round of voting. The CDU candidate was then elected president of the state parliament and candidates from the BSW, the Left and the SPD were elected vice presidents. The AfD is the only party that does not have a vice president. Furthermore the size of the parliamentary committees was limited to twelve members. As a result the AfD loses its blocking minority from the result of the state election. [2] [6] [7]

Conclusion

The BSW is thus breaking its election promise not to fight the AfD in principle. The BSW is thus clearly taking sides in dealing with the AfD and reducing itself to an anti-AfD party. The benefit of the cooperation for the BSW is not known. It can be assumed that the BSW may suffer a similar fate to the AfD.

Because it is clear that the CDU did not change the rules of procedure out of conviction but only to maintain power. In December 2023 the Alliance 90/The Greens parliamentary group submitted an identical motion. But the CDU rejected this assuming that it would become the strongest force anyway. [8]

Src:
[1] Geschäftsordnung des Thüringer Landtags 2024-05-15
https://www.thueringer-landtag.de/fileadmin/Redaktion/Organigramm_GO_Gesetze_Arbeitsplan/geschaeftsordnung_des_thueringer_landtags_02.pdf
[2] Landtagspräsident gewählt: Thüringer Parlament: Streit besiegelt? 2024-09-28
https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/politik/deutschland/thueringen-eilentscheid-landtag-konstitutierende-sitzung-100.html
[3] THÜRINGER VERFASSUNGSGERICHTSHOF - VerfGH 36/24
https://verfassungsgerichtshof.thueringen.de/media/tmmjv_verfassungsgerichtshof/Entscheidungen/24-00036_Beschluss_nicht_barrierefrei.pdf
[4] Lennart Geibert (CDU)
https://www.thueringer-landtag.de/abgeordnete/abgeordnete-fraktionen-sitzordnung/abgeordnetendetails/abgeordneter/lennart-geibert/
[5] Vordatierte Prozessvollmacht der CDU
https://x.com/GGLuthe/status/1839708691001393548
[6] Konstituierende Sitzung - Thüringer Hängepartie beendet: Thadäus König zu Landtagspräsident gewählt 2024-09-28
https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/thueringen/wahlen-politik/landtag-praesident-gewaehlt-sitzung-konstituierung-koenig-100.html
[7] Verfassungsgerichtshof - Thüringer AfD will juristisch gegen Ausschussgrößen vorgehen 2024-09-30
https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/thueringen/ramelow-afd-chaos-landtag-ausschuss-100.html
[8] Wahl des Landtagspräsidenten - "Extrem unklug" - Warum die Geschäftsordnung des Thüringer Landtags nicht schon früher geändert wurde 2024-09-25
https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/thueringen/geschaeftsordnung-landtag-landtagspraesident-wahl-afd-gericht-100.html