The current Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt, Sven Schulze (CDU), has rejected the AfD’s demand to hold half of all positions in the parliamentary committees. This request is currently being discussed by the Ad Hoc Council of Elders.
Speaking to the news program “Welt” on Friday, Schulze stated that this demand contradicts the results of the election, a fact that had already been clearly communicated to the AfD. He observed that there appears to be an attempt not only to ensure that as many decisions as possible align with the AfD’s interests, but possibly also decisions that deviate from the actual electoral outcomes.
Furthermore, the AfD is seeking a modification of the seating arrangement in the Landtag because it no longer wishes to be seated on the right side. Schulze views such demands-both to the Elders Council and the Ad Hoc Council of Elders-as a form of power demonstration by the AfD. He noted that the requested change would even dictate that colleagues from the Greens and the SPD should no longer have offices within the actual parliament building but must seek office space elsewhere in the future. He believes this action is closely linked to the AfD’s desire to showcase its current strength.
Schulze defended his request to postpone the transfer of the chairmanship of the Prime Ministers’ Conference from Saxony-Anhalt, which was originally scheduled for October 1st. He argued that it is currently impossible to predict exactly when the new state government will take office, despite the AfD winning convincingly in the election. However, he stressed the continued need for the Prime Ministers’ Conference to function. Consequently, he relayed these concerns to his colleagues, leading to a decision that Rhineland-Palatinate will retain the chairmanship. He considers this ultimately to be a reasonable decision.
