Following a recent increase in allowances for the leadership of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Transparency Deutschland is calling for stricter regulations governing the use of public funds by all parliamentary factions.
Berthold Gries, Executive Director of Transparency Deutschland, stated that a more transparent system is needed across all parliamentary groups, with clear stipulations incorporated into the Bundestag’s rules of procedure and implementation guidelines. He emphasized the necessity for mechanisms to reclaim funds misused or improperly allocated, accompanied by corresponding sanctioning possibilities.
Gries, formerly a Ministerial Director in the German Bundestag, highlighted a question of responsibility regarding oversight of faction financing. He questioned whether this responsibility should lie with the Bundestag administration, responsible for disbursement, or with the Federal Audit Court. He described current practices surrounding faction finances as lacking oversight, asserting that their income and expenditures are presently obscured.
Transparency Deutschland urged the governing coalition factions to disclose the allowances paid to their respective parliamentary group chairs. The organization argues there is no justification for keeping this information confidential, particularly given that the funds originate from taxpayer money and should therefore be publicly accessible. Gries suggests that maintaining secrecy erodes public trust more severely than transparency would.
The organization criticized the timing of the significant increase in allowances within the AfD parliamentary group, noting it occurred before the final approval of the next federal budget. This timing, according to Gries, creates the impression that the AfD parliamentary group is attempting to secure greater entitlements.
Currently, the parliamentary groups of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the Social Democratic Party (SPD) have not publicly disclosed the allowances they provide to their parliamentary group leaders. Transparency Deutschland criticizes this lack of disclosure, suggesting it indicates a potentially inadequate understanding of the importance of transparency within democratic processes within sections of both the SPD and CDU factions.
