Great moments of parliamentarism cannot be had without allowances: Plenum of the Bundestag (Berlin, December 5, 2024)
Berlin. Former Bundestag member Heribert Hirte (CDU) is suing the federal government for payment of an allowance. The background to this is the deselection of AfD MP Stephan Brandner from the board of the Legal Committee in November 2019. After his removal, Hirte took over as deputy chairman of the committee. After the election of the chairman, he took over his duties completely, argues Hirte, who is currently a professor of law at the University of Hamburg. This justifies that he then receives the corresponding allowance, even if he was formally only elected as deputy. After all, he did the extra work permanently. The Berlin Administrative Court will discuss the fall next Thursday. Hirte was deputy chairman of the Committee on Legal Affairs and Consumer Protection in the 19th electoral term (2017-2021). According to the Members of Parliament Act, the chairman of the Bundestag committees receives an official allowance. According to the court, this amounts to around 1,500 euros per month. In the current electoral period there are three committees that were appointed by the AfD for the chairman but were not elected. The committees are each led by the deputy chairmen. In one of these cases, the affected MPs are also suing for the granting of the official allowance, according to court information. (dpa/jW)
