The Federal Constitutional Court is today investigating the appeal of the parliamentary group of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) regarding the repeated voting against of its members for the positions of the chairmen of the Federal Parliament Committees.

Until recently, the nomination of the presidents of parliamentary committees was considered a procedural matter and was completed without problems, by simple appointment by the parties. A vote is provided only in the case of an objection. After the 2021 elections, the AfD will hold the presidency of the Interior, Health and Development Cooperation Committees. Until now, however, it has not been possible for the positions to be filled by AfD MPs, as the other parties voted against its candidates.

The Court is now called upon to decide whether the rights of the Alternative for Germany parliamentary group are violated in this way. However, the group has already lost an emergency appeal it filed in 2022 asking the Court to allow it to appoint presidents pending a final decision. Another appeal by the AfD in Karlsruhe is already under investigation, for the vote against its MP Stefan Brandner, who during the previous parliamentary term was a candidate for the position of chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, but failed to be elected. Mr Bradner had come under fire for posting anti-Semitic comments on social media following the terrorist attack on a synagogue in Halle, which killed two people.