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Saxony-Anhalt's Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff
Photo: Michael Taeger / imago images / Jan Huebner
The Saxony-Anhalt Green parliamentary group is considering legal action against the election of the prime minister in the Magdeburg parliament.
Reiner Haseloff was re-elected head of government in the second ballot on Thursday.
The CDU politician governs with the SPD and FDP in a so-called German coalition.
The background to the criticism of the Greens is that at least one CDU member of the state parliament is said to have photographed his ballot for the secret election in order to prove to his group colleagues that he gave his vote to Haseloff.
According to SPIEGEL information, this is how it is discussed among MPs.
In an email from the Greens to the legislative and advisory service of the State Parliament of Saxony-Anhalt, which SPIEGEL has received, it says: "Such an approach might violate the principle of secret voting."
The Greens want to know from the advisory service whether the election is valid at all and what legal remedies they could lodge against it if it did.
»Voting secrecy is a central basis of our democracy.
MEPs are also not allowed to disregard this, ”says the Green MP Olaf Meister to SPIEGEL.
It is "bitter when conditions prevail in a parliamentary group in charge of the government that produce such alleged evidence of loyalty," said Meister about the possible act of photographing the ballot.
Haseloff missed eight votes in the first vote in the state parliament.
Above all, frustrated CDU MPs who have lost their posts in the parliamentary group in the new legislative period or were not taken into account in the formation of the government are suspected.
In addition, there is resentment in their own ranks about Haseloff's clear demarcation course towards the AfD.
Individual SPD MPs could also have refused Haseloff the vote in the first ballot.
CDU, SPD and FDP together have 56 out of 97 members in the state parliament.
49 would be needed for an absolute majority.
In the first ballot, 48 MPs voted for Haseloff, and then 53 in the second.