Parliament - Schwab becomes new parliamentary group leader of the Free Voters
Powerful chair of the Free Voters faction in Rhineland-Palatinate: Helge Schwab is the new chairman. The 52-year-old secured his victory in the executive board election on Friday in Mainz, as the faction announced.
Schwab will succeed Joachim Streit as of mid-July. Streit was elected to the European Parliament and will relinquish his mandate as a Rhineland-Palatinate parliamentarian on July 15. Streit is also deputy federal chairman of the party.
Stephan Wefelscheid, parliamentary manager and Rhineland-Palatinate state chairman of the Free Voters, was considered a big loser of the Friday election. He had long been seen as the likely successor to Streit in the event of his departure.
Now, Wefelscheid will vacate his post as parliamentary manager at the end of June, according to faction statements. Lisa-Marie Jeckel will succeed him. Fraktions vice-chairman will be Patrick Kunz after Schwab's promotion.
There was intense rumbling in the faction. At the federal party conference of the Free Voters in Bitburg in February, only Wefelscheid and Streit, along with Schwab, Jeckel, Kunz, and Herbert Drumm, voted against a cooperation ban with the AfD and caused a stir.
The cooperation ban received a total of 92% approval from the Free Voters. The four Rhineland-Palatinate parliamentarians explained their actions against the specific proposal, which came from Wefelscheid's Koblenz district association, with content-related arguments.
Schwab had spoken frequently at the speaker's podium in the Mainz state parliament in recent weeks. This was interpreted as a potential sign that he harbored ambitions. In his first reaction after the Friday election, he said to a question about how the faction would proceed: It will certainly go on.
Wefelscheid told the German Press Agency: "I ultimately had no majority in the faction, which I regret." However, this had no effect on his position as state party chairman. He intends to remain a parliamentarian in the state parliament.
The Free Voters have been represented in the Mainz state parliament since 2021.
- Despite being seen as a likely successor, Stephan Wefelscheid, the parliamentary manager and Rhineland-Palatinate state chairman of the Free Voters, will vacate his post at the end of June, with Lisa-Marie Jeckel set to replace him.
- Helge Schwab, the new chair of the Free Voters faction in Rhineland-Palatinate, is based in Mainz and has recently been active at the speaker's podium in the Mainz state parliament.3.Joachim Streit, the former chairman of the Free Voters faction in Rhineland-Palatinate, has been elected to the European Parliament and will relinquish his mandate as a Rhineland-Palatinate parliamentarian on July 15.
- Free voters, who have been represented in the Mainz state parliament since 2021, caused a stir at the federal party conference of the Free Voters in Bitburg in February when Wefelscheid's Koblenz district association proposed a cooperation ban with the AfD, and only Wefelscheid, Streit, Schwab, Jeckel, Kunz, and Herbert Drumm voted against it.
