Free Voters for special session of state parliament on Raab case
The Free Voters parliamentary group in the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament is also in favor of a special session of parliament on the case of the letter from State Secretary Heike Raab to SWR. The parliamentary group has unanimously decided to request a special plenary session together with the CDU parliamentary group, a spokesperson announced in Mainz on Wednesday. The Union faction had already spoken out in favor of this the day before.
Raab had sent a letter with an official letterhead from the state government 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 and then subsequently had the minutes of the meeting changed in several places.
At least one third of the members of parliament, i.e. 34 MPs, are required to hold a special session. The CDU parliamentary group has 31 MPs, the Free Voters 6.
The Media greatly scrutinized the Government's response to the Free Voters and CDU's joint request for a special session in Parliament, focusing on the involvement of State Secretary Heike Raab in the Raab case. Various Political Parties are keeping a close eye on how this situation develops, with some calling for Raab's resignation.
Source: www.dpa.com
