[ad_1]
Even before Wirecard’s commission of inquiry begins, a dispute looms over the president. According to parliamentary tradition, it belongs to the AfD. But all other parties are uncomfortable with this.
The AfD does not want to leave the chairmanship of the planned Wirecard research committee to another parliamentary group. According to parliamentary tradition, she is entitled to this, said AfD MP Kay Gottschalk. He himself is in discussion to chair the commission of inquiry. At the same time, Gottschalk stressed that he was interested in a full clarification, including “all the unpleasant truths that many in the federal government will have to face.” As president, he wants to “force” this within the possible framework.
The chairman of the commission is generally determined in a fixed order according to the size of the parliamentary groups in the Bundestag. Consequently, it would be the AfD’s turn on the Wirecard committee.
Left doubts the integrity of the AfD candidate
But obviously there are reservations in the other groups. The left party’s deputy parliamentary group, Fabio de Masi, was the clearest. Despite the formal claim, he will not support a committee chair who jeopardizes the investigation, De Masi said, calling for a candidate who has “personal integrity.” “The fact that the AfD apparently has no such candidates is not my problem,” the left-wing politician said.
CDU deputy Matthias Hauer referred to parliamentary customs, but said that there is no automaticity to elect all the candidates. “We will examine the proposal carefully and then decide.” According to Hauer, it is important that the research committee promotes the research and that the AfD “has been the least noticed so far.” SPD deputy Jens Zimmermann also said in the “Handelsblatt” that “there was no automatism” in electing certain people. But especially in a commission of inquiry, it is doubly difficult to hide something from a minority that is parliamentary for them.
Greens: AfD presidency does not arouse any enthusiasm
Danyal Bayaz of the Green Group emphasized that the committee should be headed by “a person with competence and integrity.” “I don’t want the issue of the presidency to delay the work of the inquiry commission, but the idea of an AfD president will certainly not arouse any enthusiasm in me,” Bayaz added.
FDP deputy Florian Toncar said the political importance of the committee chair should not be overstated. “It is not about individuals, but about relentlessly accepting oversight errors and drawing the right lessons from this unprecedented failure of control.” That’s what matters. However, in the last two months he had not seen any relevant contribution from the AfD to clarify the Wirecard issue, Toncar explained.
The U committee may still be in September
The Greens, the Left and the FDP had agreed to establish a parliamentary commission of inquiry, possibly in September. Together they have enough votes in the Bundestag to force the body. The goal is to clarify what mistakes the federal government made in dealing with the financial scandal.
In June, the now-insolvent financial services provider admitted air bookings worth 1.9 billion euros. The Munich prosecution assumes that Wirecard has been showing false earnings since 2015 and is investigating commercial gang fraud. The damage to lending banks and investors could amount to 3.2 billion euros.
