Bavarian State Parliament - Expert Opinion: "Extremism Clause" in Bavaria could be possible
The Landtag can deny the payment of Landtags-funds to constituent workers of deputies or factions who are constitutionally hostile and extremist - this would require new legal foundations. This result was obtained from a detailed legal opinion presented by Landtag President Ilse Aigner in Munich regarding a possible Extremism Clause.
Ultimately, the ball is now in the courts: "The legislator in Bavaria is specifically poised to anchor an Extremism Clause," said Tristan Barczak, Professor of Public Law, Security Law, and the Law of New Technologies at the University of Passau. The Deputies', the Factions', and the Constitution Protection Acts would need to be amended. Aigner clearly expressed her support for this: "We do not want to pay out such funds," she said. She therefore hoped that "we can find a solution here together." And it could happen quickly: "During the course of the year, it could be achieved if we solve it together."
Four Cases in the Landtag
The employees of deputies or factions conclude employment contracts directly with these individuals, while the Landtag office only handles the payment of salaries. The Landtag office currently lacks a legal basis for refusing to pay salaries to "clearly constitutionally hostile extremists" - this has now been confirmed by the opinion.
The occasion for the debate was a report by Bayerischer Rundfunk, according to which the AfD faction in the Bundestag and its deputies employed more than 100 female and male employees, many of whom were active in organizations assessed as right-wing extremist by the Constitution Protection Agency. Aigner had previously stated that this was also known in the Bavarian Landtag. Concretely, she now confirmed that it concerned four cases, all employees of AfD deputies. In three of these cases, the Landtag had temporarily stopped the payment of funds, but had resumed it.
In light of the Extremism Clause discussion, the Bavarian State Parliament, led by President Ilse Aigner, held meetings in Munich to address the issue. The Bavarian Parliament is considering amending the Deputies', the Factions', and the Constitution Protection Acts to deny funding to extremist constituent workers. Aigner expressed her concern, stating, "We do not want to pay out such funds," and expressed hope for a collaborative solution, potentially within the year.
