State parliament – Hanover – AfD reiterates criticism of the expansion of the state parliament presidency – politics
Hanover (dpa / lni) – The AfD parliamentary group in Lower Saxony reiterates its clear criticism of the planned expansion of the state parliament presidency. “While citizens are encouraged to be as economical as possible, the representatives of the SPD, CDU and Greens treat themselves to highly paid posts for which there is no objective reason,” Klaus Wichmann, parliamentary director of the AfD parliamentary group, of the German Press Agency. The state parliament in Baden-Württemberg with 154 MPs gets by with two vice-presidents, but according to plans by the SPD, CDU and Greens there should now be five vice-presidents for the 146 MPs in Lower Saxony.
This requires a change in the rules of procedure. This is to be discussed in the state parliament next Wednesday. The application of the three parliamentary groups states the following about the expected expansion: “Against the background of the increasing attacks on our parliamentary democracy, the vice presidents should appear in addition to their parliamentary work in the entire state of Lower Saxony to advertise our democracy more intensively”.
According to the state parliament, a state parliament vice-president receives a 40 percent surcharge on top of the basic remuneration, which is currently EUR 7,485 per month. Another vice-president would cost an additional €180,000 for the five-year legislative period. The taxpayers’ association recently called for a reduction in the surcharge.
AfD politician Wichmann accused the other three parliamentary groups of viewing the state parliament’s presidency as “simple assets” to equip politicians with “sound offices and a hefty dietary allowance”. Wichmann is a candidate for a deputy post himself, but he considers the necessary majority to be almost impossible.
Meta Janssen-Kucz is standing for the Greens; she already held the post at the end of the last legislative period. The parliamentary director of the Greens parliamentary group, Volker Bajus, said: “The Greens parliamentary group has not proposed increasing the vice posts, but they support this as part of a necessary new rules of procedure with numerous modernizations for digitization and for an inclusive state parliament.” Presumably the Greens do not want to risk the first dispute in the new state government with the SPD.
Sabine Tippelt and Marcus Bosse are candidates for the SPD. Wiard Siebels, parliamentary secretary for the group, said it would look into the Taxpayers’ Association’s proposal for a reduction in the vice-president’s allowance. “Since we have the clear expectation that the expansion of the Presidium will increase the presence of the state parliament in the area, the tasks for the individual members of the Presidium will not be reduced,” he said.
Former Agriculture Minister Barbara Otte-Kinast and Jens Nacke are standing for the CDU.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:221126-99-669772/2