Boris Rhein urges CDU to allow AfD lawmakers to chair Bundestag committees

Push for parliamentary integration

Boris Rhein, the minister president of Hesse and leader of the state Christian Democratic Union (CDU), has called on his party to support Alternative for Germany (AfD) candidates for committee chairmanships in the Bundestag. In an interview with Stern magazine published ahead of print, Rhein stated that the CDU should treat the AfD in accordance with its electoral mandate rather than blocking its representatives from parliamentary roles. He pointed to the Landtag of Hesse and other state parliaments, where AfD politicians routinely hold committee leadership roles. Rhein stressed that maintaining clear political separation from the AfD does not require excluding the party from regular committee proceedings.

The party is elected, and that is how one should treat it.

Committee procedures and legal precedents

Under Paragraph 58 of the Bundestag rules of procedure, parliamentary committees determine their own chairs and deputy chairs. For decades, parliamentary groups traditionally agreed on committee chair allocations through consensus in the Council of Elders (Ältestenrat). While the AfD holds the nomination right for the chairmanship of several specialized committees, candidates proposed by the party have repeatedly failed to secure the necessary majorities from other lawmakers. In the previous legislative term, AfD candidates missed majorities for three Bundestag committee chairs, leaving the party without any chairmanships. The AfD filed a complaint with the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe, arguing that its rights were violated, but the court dismissed the case and found no legal fault in the election outcomes.

Rejection of legal ban proceedings

Rhein also voiced opposition to calls for initiating a formal ban procedure against the AfD. Demands to initiate or examine a ban have been raised by politicians from various parties and civil society groups. Rhein argued that democratic competitors must confront the AfD through policy rather than relying on the judicial system. He urged the CDU to offer better policy solutions and regain authority over everyday questions in the country rather than relying on legal prohibitions.

I advise fighting the AfD not legally, but politically.

Firewall debate and legal criticism

Rhein's stance aligns with his earlier comments to Welt TV following the state election in Saxony-Anhalt, where he criticized the rigid application of the firewall (Brandmauer) concept toward AfD voters. He argued that leaving citizens behind institutional barriers contradicts Christian Democratic values, advocating dialogue with voters while firmly excluding governing coalitions or formal policy cooperation with the AfD. Former Federal Constitutional Court president Hans-Jürgen Papier had similarly called for an end to the AfD ban debate in mid-September during an interview with the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger. Papier described repeated demands for a ban following the AfD election result in Saxony-Anhalt as unwise, stating that a prohibition process would benefit the AfD while holding minimal chances of success before the federal government, Bundestag, or Bundesrat. Papier added that mainstream parties damage parliamentarism when they narrow their legislative room for maneuver by refusing to pass policies supported by AfD votes.