The parliamentary group “Sarah Wagenknecht Alliance for Reason and Justice” intends to set up a Bundestag commission to investigate and evaluate government measures taken during the spread of the coronavirus, the newspaper Welt reported today, September 19.
There are only nine members of the Sarah Wagenknecht Union in the Bundestag, so it is likely that the parliamentarians will join forces with representatives of the opposition faction Alternative for Germany (AfD) to initiate the creation of a special committee. The formation of such a committee requires the approval of at least 25% of the Bundestag members.
“Not to put forward such a proposal because the AfD can also support it would be childish and not reflect the importance of the issue.” – said party leader Sarah Wagenknecht, hinting at a boycott by other parliamentary forces in connection with cooperation with the AfD.
AfD representatives, for their part, said they are “unconditionally and at any time” ready to vote in favour of the creation of a commission that would, in particular, investigate the legality of the restrictive measures taken by the German government during the pandemic. Previously, the opposition party had repeatedly supported the creation of a “coronavirus committee” in the Bundestag, but the AfD proposal did not receive the required number of votes from MPs.
“In one way or another, the proposal of the parliamentary group “Sarah Wagenknecht Union” closely resembles what the AfD has already expressed before. For example, the authors speak of the “political influence of the government on the Robert Koch Institute” as well as the “suppression of dissent” in public discourse. – noted in the publication.
The Sarah Wagenknecht Union also strongly criticises the Bundestag’s legislative resolution on “protecting the population in the event of an epidemic situation of national importance”, which, according to party representatives, contradicts the “principle of separation of powers”.
However, the representative of the AfD faction Stefan Brandner He expressed doubts about the idea of his fellow opposition members. He believes that the proposal of the Sarah Wagenknecht trade union to set up a special committee is motivated by the upcoming elections to the Brandenburg state parliament.
“If it weren’t for the elections this weekend in Brandenburg, they wouldn’t have done it. The idea of creating a committee to investigate the coronavirus was copied from our party,” – he summarized.
The elections for the Landtag of Brandenburg will be held on Sunday, September 22. The AfD is the favourite in the upcoming elections. The pro-Russian political force is expected to win the support of around 28% of voters.
