Wagenknecht alliance plans to form in the Bundestag
By leaving the Left Party, Sahra Wagenknecht and like-minded MPs are causing the disintegration of the Left Party in the Bundestag. It will disband this week. Two motions to form groups will soon be submitted to the Bundestag.
After leaving the Left Party, Sahra Wagenknecht and nine other MPs want to form their own group in the Bundestag next week. On December 12, the "Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance" will be properly constituted in the Bundestag and will then also apply for group status, a spokesperson announced.
Wagenknecht and her nine comrades-in-arms left the Left Party in October. As a result, the previous Left Party parliamentary group, which most recently had 38 members, will also disband on December 6.
The remaining 28 Left Party MPs have already submitted an application to form their own group and are hoping for swift recognition by the Bundestag. A resolution by the plenary is required to determine the rights of a new group in parliamentary business.
Fewer rights, less money
Compared to a parliamentary group, a group has fewer parliamentary rights, for example when putting questions to the government. And it receives less financial support from the state coffers. Whether the Bundestag will decide on both groups - the Left Party and the Wagenknecht Group - in parallel remains to be seen. It is also unclear how both groups will be positioned in the plenary chamber in future.
With the dissolution of the Left Party parliamentary group, 108 employees will lose their jobs, for example political advisors or office staff. How many of them will be employed by the new groups in future also depends on their financial resources. It will probably not be all of them.
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The formation of the "Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance" in the German federal parliament will be challenged by the Left Party, as they too have applied for group status. Despite leaving the Left Party, Sahra Wagenknecht and her allies will face reduced parliamentary rights and financial support compared to a formal parliamentary group.
Source: www.ntv.de
