CDU parliamentary group for special session of the state parliament on the Raab case
Following the latest developments in the case of the critical letter from Rhineland-Palatinate State Secretary Heike Raab to SWR, the CDU parliamentary group has called for a special session of the state parliament. They are in contact with the Free Voters parliamentary group to request such a session, said CDU parliamentary group leader Gordon Schnieder on Tuesday in Mainz. Subsequently, the establishment of a committee of inquiry is also conceivable. The AfD parliamentary group had previously spoken out in favor of such a committee.
According to the state parliament's rules of procedure, 21 signatures are required to set up a committee of inquiry; the AfD parliamentary group has six members. According to Schnieder, a third of the 101 MPs are required to push through a special session. The CDU parliamentary group has 31, the Free Voters have six.
Schnieder said that the issue needed to be dealt with in parliament immediately. Raab is the state's representative to the federal government and for Europe and the media, and Minister President Malu Dreyer (SPD) must make a statement accordingly. The head of government had not yet responded to a letter from the CDU parliamentary group. Schnieder called on Dreyer to dismiss Raab.
Raab had sent a letter on official state government letterhead to the Rhineland-Palatinate SWR state broadcasting director Ulla Fiebig in the spring of this year. The letter was about a broadcast on SWR television with a political correspondent from SWR, which also dealt with the political future of SPD politician Roger Lewentz, who had resigned as Rhineland-Palatinate's Interior Minister in connection with the Ahr valley flood disaster. Opposition representatives see this as an inadmissible attempt to exert influence, and there have already been calls for Raab to resign.
In mid-November, Raab, one of Germany's most important media politicians, spoke on the subject in the state parliament's media committee. She subsequently had the minutes of the meeting changed in several places, as can be seen from a letter she sent to the committee dated November 27, 2023. The "Trierischer Volksfreund" reported on this.
The CDU parliamentary group, in conjunction with the Free Voters, is advocating for a special session of the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament to address the Raab case, given the critical letter she sent to SWR. The media is closely following this developing situation in Parliament, with various political parties expressing their views on the matter.
Source: www.dpa.com
