Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: Court hears CDU lawsuit about unfair committees

Greifswald (dpa/mv) - The CDU parliamentary group sees investigative committees unfairly tailored - now the state constitutional court of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania wants to hear two complaints from the parliamentary group on Thursday next week.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: Court hears CDU lawsuit about unfair committees

Greifswald (dpa/mv) - The CDU parliamentary group sees investigative committees unfairly tailored - now the state constitutional court of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania wants to hear two complaints from the parliamentary group on Thursday next week. The parliamentary group criticizes the limitation of the parliamentary committees of inquiry (PUA) to the university clinics and the climate protection foundation to 9 instead of 13 members. As a result, the CDU only gets one seat instead of two.

According to the court, other groups had also requested a size of 13 members. Instead, the state parliament set the number of members at 9 each. According to the state constitution, the parliamentary groups must each be represented by one member in the committee of inquiry. In addition, the majorities in such a committee must correspond to the majorities in the state parliament.

Accordingly, in the committees mentioned, four members are from the SPD parliamentary group and one member each from the AfD, CDU, Left, Greens and FDP. With 13 members, the SPD got six seats per committee and the AfD and CDU got two seats instead.

The CDU parliamentary group argues that the smaller size deviates from the principle of mirror images in the allocation of seats in an unconstitutional manner. There is talk of a "disproportionate shift in the political balance of power". According to the court, the state parliament considers the applications to be unfounded because the principle of mirror image does not specify a binding committee size.

The investigative committee initiated by the opposition into the two university clinics in Rostock and Greifswald is to investigate the suspicion of mismanagement and the waste of tax funds. The committee on the controversial climate foundation Mecklenburg-West Pomerania should shed light on the background of the foundation. It is related to the also controversial German-Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2, which was completed but never went into operation.