Magdeburg (dpa/sa) - The CDU parliamentary group wants to vote for the election of a state data protection officer on Thursday in the state parliament of Saxony-Anhalt without a clear election recommendation. Group leader Guido Heuer announced this on Wednesday after a short group meeting. "The vote is approved," Heuer told journalists. One trusts that the MPs would decide "in the interests of the matter".
When asked, this year avoided a commitment to the previously favored candidate Albert Cohaus. "I'm not going to say anything further."
A new attempt to elect a state data protection officer is to be made on Thursday. In the spring, the election of Cohaus surprisingly failed. The black-red-yellow coalition did not get a majority in the vote. Cohaus received 46 votes, 49 would have been necessary. CDU, SPD and FDP together have 56 seats. Cohaus has managed the business of the state commissioner for data protection on an interim basis since January 2021, and as director he is his deputy.
It is unclear why the coalition failed to secure a majority in the secret ballot. According to reports, Cohaus did not convince all MPs when he was presented in the state parliament.
The award of the position has a long history. After extending his term of service several times, the top data protection officer, Harald von Bose, retired at the end of 2020. The election of a successor had already failed in the spring of 2018 because the two-thirds majority required at the time in the state parliament was missed. The hurdles were then lowered so that the majority of the members of the state parliament is now sufficient for the election.
