A proposal from the left-wing faction in the Thuringian state parliament only received a majority with votes from the AfD. The left speaks of a “random majority”.
dpa | The Left rejects the accusation, consciously in the Thuringian state parliament a majority with the AfD to have accepted. The vote on an application for funding for sports facilities last Thursday was a “random majority,” said the chairman of the left-wing faction, Christian Schaft, when asked by the dpa news agency. The chairwoman of the Left parliamentary group, Heidi Reichinnek, emphasized that there had been no prior consultation with the AfD.
The application was entitled “Save sports facilities – a new Golden Plan for Sport is needed”. The Left parliamentary group is calling for a Federal Council initiative for a nationwide funding program to renovate dilapidated sports facilities. The motion was approved last Thursday with 32 yes votes – supported by MPs from the Left and the AfD. There were 30 no votes from the ranks of the government factions.
The majority situation in the Thuringian state parliament is difficult; there is a stalemate between the coalition and the opposition. Prime Minister Mario Voigt leads the only so-called blackberry coalition in Germany, the CDU, BSW and SPD. The Thuringian AfD is protected by the state Office for the Protection of the Constitution classified as definitely right-wing extremist and observed.
Missing representatives tip the balance
“This random majority would not have existed if the coalition and its representatives had been present,” said Schaft. There is no majority in the state parliament for either the opposition or the government. Both the opposition factions and the government coalition have 44 seats each. According to the information, several members of the coalition factions were not present at the time of the vote.
Schaft denied that his group had expected the AfD’s approval. “We had no feedback from the AfD in advance about how they would react to our applications,” said the Left parliamentary group leader. However, in the state parliament debate on this point, AfD MP Uwe Thrum announced that his group wanted to support the left-wing motion. Thrum said: “Even if we know who is partly responsible for the 1.3 billion euro renovation backlog in Thuringian sport, we would like to support the Left Party’s proposal in this matter. Because we need the support of the federal government to deal with this gigantic mountain of dilapidated infrastructure – and as quickly as possible.”
Reichinnek also rejects the accusation
Reichinnek said on the ntv talk show “Pinar Atalay” that the AfD initially signaled rejection of the application and then “spontaneously changed its mind and agreed”. The chairwoman of the Left parliamentary group also criticized the fact that several members of the Thuringian government coalition were not present during the vote.
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