State Constitutional Court - AfD loses control committee dispute
The State Constitutional Court of Saxony-Anhalt has rejected the application by the AfD parliamentary group against the composition of the Parliamentary Control Committee. The amendment to the law, which reduced the size of the control committee from five to four members, did not violate the AfD's rights as an opposition parliamentary group or its right to equal opportunities, the judges ruled on Wednesday in Dessau-Roßlau.
The state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt appointed new members to the Parliamentary Control Committee, which monitors the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, in June 2022. Its members are Markus Kurze (CDU), Eva von Angern (Linke), Rüdiger Erben (SPD) and Guido Kosmehl (FDP).
The state constitutional court has clarified in its ruling that participation in such a committee must be "mirrored". The composition should therefore be a scaled-down image of parliament. "Consequently, the strength of the parliamentary groups represented in parliament must be reflected as accurately as possible," the court stated. Six parliamentary groups are represented in the state parliament: CDU, SPD, FDP, AfD, Left Party and Greens.
However, a deviation from the mirror image requirement could be justified "by conflicting constitutional positions", the judges ruled. The small number of members could also mean that not all opposition groups, and therefore not necessarily the AfD as the largest opposition group, are represented.
The Parliamentary Control Committee is regularly informed about the work and findings of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution. This is intended to enable parliamentary scrutiny of the secret service. The members of the committee are not even allowed to tell their parliamentary colleagues about the meetings. In return, they are given a particularly deep insight into the work of the secret services.
In Saxony-Anhalt, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified the state association of the AfD as a confirmed right-wing extremist organization. The authority has evaluated numerous anti-Muslim, racist and anti-Semitic statements made by functionaries and elected representatives.
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- The FDP, along with other parliamentary groups in Saxony-Anhalt, is represented in the Parliamentary Control Committee.
- Eva von Angern, a member of the Left Party, serves on the Parliamentary Control Committee in Saxony-Anhalt.
- The State Constitutional Court's ruling stressed the importance of mirroring participation in parliamentary committees, such as the Parliamentary Control Committee.
- The AfD, as the largest opposition group in the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament, was not necessarily ensured representation in the reduced Parliamentary Control Committee.
- Rüdiger Erben, a representative of the SPD, is a member of the Parliamentary Control Committee that oversees the Office for the Protection of the Constitution in Saxony-Anhalt.
- The SPD, CDU, FDP, Left Party, and Greens are the six parliamentary groups represented in the Saxony-Anhalt state parliament.
- The Parliamentary Control Committee in Saxony-Anhalt has a responsibility to monitor the actions of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, an organization that classified the state association of the AfD as a right-wing extremist organization.
Source: www.stern.de
