Björn Höcke, AfD state spokesman. © Michael Reichel/dpa
In order to prevent the imminent blockade of a committee of inquiry because of an AfD nomination, Thuringia's Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow (Left) has proposed a subcommittee. "Democrats must never allow themselves to be blocked by Mr. Höcke and his AfD," Ramelow wrote in an email on Monday.
Erfurt - The 67-year-old and his red-red-green minority government have been heavily criticized for months after an audit report by the state audit office on personnel decisions of the state government became public. In it, the auditors accuse the state government of systematic and serious violations of rules on hiring civil servants. When hiring state secretaries, for example, the best selection is said to have been disregarded and documentation obligations are said to have been violated. The public prosecutor's office in Erfurt is also investigating - because of the initial suspicion of embezzlement.
A few weeks ago, the CDU and FDP had requested a committee of inquiry to clarify the allegations. The Left Party has the right to nominate candidates for the presidency, and the AfD for the deputy chairmanship, which wants to send its controversial parliamentary group leader Björn Höcke to the committee. CDU parliamentary group leader Mario Voigt had made it clear on Sunday that he was "unelectable" for the Christian Democrats. He accused the AfD of blocking the work of the committee with Höcke's nomination. According to experts, the constitution of a committee of inquiry without a deputy chairman would be constitutionally delicate.
Ramelow now proposed to form a subcommittee within the Finance and Budget Committee to resolve this problem. "Should the committee of inquiry not be constituted due to the unacceptable election proposal of the AfD, the handling of the issues relating to the special report of the Court of Auditors by a temporary subcommittee of the Budget and Finance Committee would also be conceivable," Ramelow wrote. There is a model for this - with the subcommittee on municipal financial equalization. "Instead of being impressed by the games of the AfD, I, as prime minister, propose a parliamentary path that is appropriate to the dignity of parliament and requires enlightenment," Ramelow wrote. Dpa