Free Voters in the state parliament lose parliamentary group status
The Free Voters have lost their status as a parliamentary group following the resignation of Philip Zeschmann. This was announced by the state parliament in Potsdam on Tuesday. State Parliament President Ulrike Liedtke informed the four remaining MPs that Zeschmann's resignation meant that their status as a parliamentary group had lapsed, as they no longer had the five members required by the parliamentary group law. According to the state parliament, the rules for non-attached members apply to the four MPs. The parliamentary group continues to exist "in liquidation".
Zeschmann had announced his resignation from the BVB/Freie Wähler parliamentary group on Monday and switched to the AfD in the state parliament. The AfD parliamentary group accepted him unanimously on Tuesday. The Brandenburg Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified the AfD state association as a suspected right-wing extremist organization since 2020.
According to Brandenburg's parliamentary group law, parliamentary groups must have at least five members. The Free Voters entered the state parliament in 2019 with five percent and previously had five members in their parliamentary group. The current parliamentary group leader Péter Vida is of the opinion that it is still a parliamentary group. He refers to a passage in the parliamentary group law, according to which it is also possible to form a parliamentary group with four instead of five MPs under certain conditions.
The Free Voters' loss of parliamentary group status in the state parliament leaves four MPs as free voters. With Zeschmann joining the AfD, the Free Voters no longer meet the minimum requirement of five members needed to maintain a parliamentary group, as per Brandenburg's parliamentary group law.
Source: www.dpa.com
