(ANSA-AP) - BERLIN, 04 APR - German lawmakers rejected
Thursday for the third time the far-right Alternative for
Germany's proposed candidate for deputy speaker of parliament, a
posting that would have bolstered its influence and
respectability.
It is customary for each party in the Bundestag to have a
deputy alongside speaker Wolfgang Schaeuble, a veteran
conservative lawmaker.
Alternative for Germany, which is known by its German acronym
of AfD, has insisted it has the right to name a deputy since
it's the biggest opposition party in the current parliament. The
party's candidate, Mariana Harder-Kuehnel, received 199 votes in
favor and 423 votes against in a secret ballot. The 44-year-old
would have required only a simple majority, following two
previous rounds of voting in which an absolute majority of the
709 lawmakers in parliament was necessary.
Several prominent lawmakers from other parties said ahead of
the vote that they planned to back her, arguing that AfD
shouldn't be given the chance to portray themselves as martyrs.
In spite of her defeat, Harder-Kuehnel received more than twice
the number of votes as her party has lawmakers in parliament.
Her colleague Albrecht Glaser, who was first nominated by AfD in
2017, was also rejected three times after suggesting that
freedom of religion shouldn't apply to Islam. (ANSA-AP).
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