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Police officers in front of the Reichstag building in Berlin
Photo: FABRIZIO BENSCH / REUTERS
After the disturbances and provocations of guests of AfD MPs in the Bundestag on Wednesday, legal steps against those involved and changes to parliamentary processes are being examined in parliament.
According to the news site "Business Insider", the rules of the Bundestag are to be tightened after the meeting of the Council of Elders.
Accordingly, the possibility of imposing a fine is to be expanded or the general rules of conduct of parliamentarians are to be supplemented by further regulations.
According to the left parliamentary chief Jan Korte, however, there are still no concrete decisions.
According to Korte, a possible application of Section 106 of the Penal Code was also discussed in the Council of Elders.
Through him, the "coercion of members of a constitutional body" or the attempt to do so is subject to imprisonment of three months to five years, in particularly serious cases of up to ten years.
The legal provision expressly refers to the threat to individual parliamentarians.
Several members of the AfD parliamentary group are said to have invited guests who caused unrest in the Bundestag property before the vote.
The troublemakers staged the whole thing in a media-effective manner in live streams and videos on social media.
(Read more here about which provocateurs the AfD smuggled into the Bundestag.)
FDP examines criminal charges
"After the incidents of yesterday it will not go on like this," said Korte and called for deliberations among the parliamentary group leaders excluding the AfD.
He was open to hard arguments and provocative actions, but what happened on Wednesday was "a border crossing."
SPD parliamentary group leader Carsten Schneider also spoke of “crossing borders”.
The AfD had shown its "ugly, anti-democratic grimace," said Schneider.
Union Parliamentary Secretary Michael Grosse-Brömer said it was a serious incident, "which must be clarified immediately and completely and then sanctioned with all available legal means."
It had been "blatantly violated against good democratic traditions and rules of propriety."
Meanwhile, the FDP is examining a criminal complaint against the AfD MPs on the basis of Paragraph 106, who are said to have allowed the troublemakers access.
The parliamentary manager of the FDP parliamentary group, Marco Buschmann, stated that it was conceivable to take action against the parliamentarians themselves because of the aiding and abetting of members of a constitutional body.
It is the AfD "a strategic concern to make our democratic institutions inoperable," said Buschmann.
The behavior of the party has reached "a new, scandalous quality."
The parliamentary manager of the Greens, Britta Haßelmann, called the events "serious".
"Anyone who tries to intimidate MPs attacks our democracy," wrote Haßelmann in a statement.
After the incident, all legal violations and sanctions against MPs would have to be examined.
The Bundestag should remain a citizen-oriented and open parliament.
AfD vice parliamentary group leader distances himself
Leading politicians of the AfD have now positioned themselves on the incident.
Group vice-chief Tino Chrupalla said in the ARD “Mittagsmagazin” that it was “shameful pictures that we have seen, absolutely ugly pictures that also damage our group”.
The chairmen of the AfD parliamentary group had also regretted the incidents.
"On Wednesday, several guests who were registered through two offices of AfD MPs, temporarily stayed unaccompanied in the Bundestag," said Alice Weidel and Alexander Gauland.
At no time did the AfD parliamentary group "invite guests to the Bundestag with the aim of disrupting the parliamentary process or hindering MPs from exercising their mandate."
The press office of the Bundestag said about the incidents that yesterday's events would be "examined by the Bundestag police".
According to the dpa news agency, a security report by the Bundestag police confirmed that the AfD MPs who admitted the troublemakers were parliamentarians Udo Hemmelgarn, Petr Bystron and Hansjörg Müller.
At her invitation, a total of four visitors entered the Bundestag buildings as guests.
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fek / dpa / AFP
