New German Bundestag AfD candidate also fails in third round of voting - first session ends

When a new Bundestag convenes for the first time, there is a festive atmosphere in the Reichstag building. But the atmosphere is unlikely to last long.

DPA

25.03.2025, 17:54

25.03.2025, 18:15

dpa

• Liveticker

  New posts
• Liveticker closed
5.54 pm

The session is over

At the end of the first session of the new German Bundestag, the MPs sing the national anthem. Julia Klöckner then ends the session. The date for the next session has not yet been set.

5.47 p.m.

Klöckner reacts to an interjection from the AfD parliamentary group

When the new President of the Bundestag, Julia Klöckner, reads out the result of the third round of voting, there is apparently a heckle. "I heard a heckler say that the cartel had cheated here," said Klöckner, adding: "I would like to inform you that these are democratic processes of a majority. There is no cartel haggling in this Bundestag."

5.22 p.m.

AfD candidate Otten also fails in third round of voting

AfD candidate Otten also suffers a heavy defeat in the third round of voting. 403 MPs vote against him, he only receives 184 yes votes with 15 abstentions and one invalid vote.

4.45 pm

Otten now only needs a simple majority

According to the rules of procedure of the German Bundestag, no more than three rounds of voting are permitted. If Otten fails again, there will not be another today.

To be successful, however, the AfD man only needs a simple majority in the third ballot, as the new Bundestag President Julia Klöckner explains.

4.30 pm

A resounding slap in the face for the AfD

The AfD also receives a resounding slap in the face in the second round of voting. Gerold Otten receives only 190 yes votes, 401 people reject his election.

Nevertheless, a third ballot is held. This is currently underway.

3.30 pm

AfD vice-chairman fails in election

In an election lasting around 1.5 hours, the Vice-Presidents of the Bundestag are elected. Andrea Lindholz (CSU), Josephine Ortleb (SPD), Omid Nouripour (Greens) and Bodo Ramelow (Left) were clearly elected - their appointment was considered a formality. Gerold Otten (AfD), on the other hand, was clearly not elected. He only received 185 yes votes, with 411 people rejecting his election.

The AfD nevertheless wants a second ballot. This will now take place.

1.43 pm

Klöckner addresses the AfD

Julia Klöckner gives her inaugural speech and begins by thanking the people for the trust they have placed in her: She speaks of an "advance". She emphasizes that she wants to exercise her office "impartially". She then made it clear how important it is to protect the democratic order: "We must defend our form of government with all our might."

In this context, she also made an appeal to the people of Turkey: she called on them to stand up for democracy - because, according to Klöckner, "it cannot be stopped."

Finally, she sends an indirect but unmistakable message to the AfD: "Majorities that were found democratically are not cartels."

1.35 pm

Julia Klöckner is the new President of the Bundestag

Julia Klöckner has been elected at the first attempt. She declares her acceptance of the election.

12.28 pm

Now it's time to elect the President of the Bundestag

Friedrich Merz now proposes Julia Klöckner as President of the Bundestag. Gysi then explains the election procedure. The election of Klöckner will now take a while, as this election will take place by secret ballot and each of the more than 600 MPs will have to cast their vote separately.

12.15 p.m.

"We don't need criminals"

Johannes Fechner also takes aim at the AfD in his speech. He explains in clear terms: "We don't need criminals." His statement is clearly directed against individual members of the AfD and causes unrest in the plenary.

12.12 p.m.

Now AfD's Brandner speaks: "We are the future"

Stefan Brandner from the AfD speaks next. He attacks the other parties head-on, speaking of a "cartel". Once again, no one wanted to elect an AfD vice president, "that simply shows that you ladies and gentlemen continue to lie and cheat as much as you can." The behavior of the other parties is "disgusting and pathetic."

In between, Gysi has to intervene, reminding Brandner to use proper language. Brandner concludes his speech with the words: "Ladies and gentlemen, we have come to become even stronger. We are the future of a prosperous, blue Germany."

12.04 p.m.

Gysi ends his speech

In his speech, Gregor Gysi recalls a date steeped in history: "This year is the 80th anniversary of Hitler's liberation," he says and proposes that May 8 be established as a nationwide public holiday in future. International Women's Day, Gysi continued, also deserves to be declared a public holiday throughout Germany.

Gysi concludes his speech with this. He calls for an open Bundestag that operates close to the population.

12.00 p.m.

Now it's all about Trump

At the end of his speech, Gregor Gysi turns his attention to international events. He recalls: "The majority of Americans elected Donald Trump as president, and we must respect that." At the same time, he expressed concern about Trump's course: "Trump is in the process of reneging on his economic and military commitments."

Gysi adds: "If he were to actually attack Greenland, (...) we would have to support Denmark."

11.56 am

"No unity in Germany"

Gregor Gysi then addresses the topic of inclusion. He calls for more progress in the equality of people with disabilities and emphasizes: "We must make progress in the equality of people." He also clearly advocates an expansion of the Basic Law: "I am in favor of including diversity in the Basic Law."

He then shifts the focus to German unity. Gysi states: "We still haven't achieved complete unity in Germany." Many issues are still perceived and evaluated differently in East and West Germany.

11.47 a.m.

Suddenly it's all about Christmas trees

Gysi then addresses the need for new parliamentary committees. One should deal intensively with the pension problem, another should deal with tax issues. He warned urgently against weakening the middle of society: "If we destroy the middle, we can no longer help those at the bottom, and those at the top can no longer exist."

To illustrate the complexity of the tax system, Gysi uses a concrete example relating to Christmas trees: "There are five different VAT rates for Christmas trees. The artificial one is subject to 19 percent, the cultivated one to 10.7 percent. A self-cut tree is subject to 7 percent. If you buy directly from the forestry industry, the sales tax is 5.5 percent - and if you cut your own tree in the forest, you pay no sales tax at all."

11:43 a.m.

"Unworthy of the Bundestag"

In the rest of his speech, Gysi turns his attention to the economic situation in the country. He addresses the recent significant rise in inflation and draws attention to the difficult financial situation of many pensioners.

With regard to the political debate, he sharply criticized: "I think the competition to see who can cut the most from the poorest is unworthy of the Bundestag."

11.38 am

Gysi calls for de-escalation

"The minority in the House, to which I belong, has a different opinion," explains Gysi with regard to the war in Ukraine. This "minority believes in de-escalation and strict disarmament". Gysi then calls for moderation in language. The others should "not call these people Putin's servants". One should "not always accuse people with different views of the worst."

11.34 am

Gysi criticizes the arms industry

In his speech as the President of the Old Age, Gregor Gysi takes the opportunity to express clear criticism of the security and arms industry. "If we succeeded in ensuring that nobody made money from wars any more, we would be a big step closer to peace," he emphasized. This statement is met with visible disapproval from members of the CDU/CSU - some react with a shake of the head.

11.26 a.m.

"I have made it"

Gregor Gysi opens the session of the Bundestag with a speech in which he first welcomes the guests of honor present - including former Federal President Christian Wulff.

With a wink, Gysi states: "I may not be the oldest member of parliament, but I am the longest-serving." And adds with a laugh: "It wasn't easy to overtake everyone from the old federal states - but I did it."

11.20 a.m.

Motion rejected

The AfD's motion to change the age of the presidium is rejected. Gregor Gysi officially opens the session.

11.19 a.m.

"AfD is causing chaos again"

Irene Mihalic from the Greens also opposes the AfD's motion to make age a decisive criterion. "The Bundestag is only just being constituted and the AfD is already causing chaos again," says Mihalic. She emphasizes that they will unanimously reject this proposal - and will do so consistently.

11.12 a.m.

"Undignified" - now the CDU is speaking out

"That was undignified, and we don't want to see anything like that again," says Thorsten Frei from the CDU. With this statement, he clearly positions himself against the AfD and in particular against Bernd Baumann's previous speech.

11.04 a.m.

AfD takes the floor

Bernd Baumann from the AfD takes the floor. He sharply criticizes the quick decision on the special fund and accuses the CDU of sending the wrong signal with its policy. According to him, a vote for the CDU also means support for open borders.

In the further course of his speech, Baumann shifts the focus to the parliament itself. He complained that "the cartel of SPD, CDU and Greens" had prevented Alexander Gauland from being allowed to open the session as the oldest member. Instead, Gregor Gysi from the Left Party was given precedence - although Gysi is the longest-serving member of the Bundestag.

11.00 a.m.

The session is opened

Senior President Gregor Gysi opens the session.

Show more

The old parliament has met twice since the Bundestag elections on February 23 and passed far-reaching resolutions - but that is now over. The new Bundestag convenes for its constituent session. This marks the start of the 21st legislative period. At the same time, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and his cabinet receive their discharge papers from Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and are now only in office on an executive basis.

The Basic Law stipulates that the new parliament must convene for the first time no later than 30 days after the election. The date now chosen is the last possible date.

Left-wing politician Gysi opens session as President of old age

When Gregor Gysi graduated as a skilled worker in cattle breeding in the GDR in 1966 and was elected chairman of the SED in the collapsing second German state in December 1989, he could hardly have imagined that he would one day open a parliamentary term as an old-age president of the German Bundestag. Now he will do so, following in the footsteps of Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU), who has since died.

The President of Old Age is the member of the Bundestag with the most years in office. His or her task is to chair the first session until the election of a new President of the Bundestag. This includes appointing the secretaries in consultation with the parliamentary groups. The former President usually also gives a speech.

Predecessor Schäuble called for passionate and fair debates

In October 2021, Schäuble, for example, reminded his "dear colleagues" to view Parliament as a political stage and not merely as a notarial event for working through coalition agreements. "This is the place where we are allowed to argue, where we should argue, but fairly and according to rules, passionately, but also with the composure that can set an example to an agitated public."

And Gysi? He will certainly say something about foreign policy and the situation in our society, the 77-year-old told the weekly newspaper "Das Parlament". And: "Perhaps I will also make a few suggestions as to what we need to discuss across party lines. Because what we really need is more real discourse and fewer show fights."

Bundestag adopts new rules of procedure

Sounds a bit dull, but it's not: one of the first resolutions to be passed by the Bundestag will be rules of procedure. They are something like the operating manual for parliament and contain many provisions for its work - for example on speaking times, convening meetings, setting agendas or rules of conduct for MPs and measures of order. It also deals with questions of power.

As a rule, the new Bundestag adopts the rules of procedure of the old parliament. However, the AfD demanded changes in 2021. This triggered a lengthy debate on the rules of procedure, but was unsuccessful.

Election of the new President of the Bundestag as the highlight

The election of the new President of the Bundestag is undoubtedly the highlight of every constituent sitting - even if this personnel matter was clarified long beforehand. Traditionally, the strongest parliamentary group, i.e. the CDU/CSU this time, has the right to nominate candidates for this post. It has nominated former Federal Minister of Agriculture Julia Klöckner for the post.

After Annemarie Renger (SPD), Rita Süssmuth (CDU) and Bärbel Bas (SPD), the CDU politician will be only the fourth woman to hold this office, which in terms of protocol is the second highest after the Federal President.

Klöckner already sat in the Bundestag from 2002 to 2011 and was also Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture from 2009. She then switched to state politics in her home state of Rhineland-Palatinate, where she tried twice in vain to become Minister President. She returned to Berlin in the 2017 federal elections and was then Federal Minister of Agriculture in the cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) until 2021.

Between 2012 and 2022, the trained journalist was one of the CDU's deputy chairwomen and was Federal Treasurer until her nomination. In the old Bundestag, she was the parliamentary group's economic policy spokesperson.

New office will be a challenge for Klöckner

Despite her many years of political experience, the new office is likely to be a major challenge for Klöckner. The tone in the Bundestag has become considerably harsher since the AfD entered in 2017, as all other parliamentary groups complain.

This is made clear, for example, by the fact that the number of calls to order issued to MPs in the 20th parliamentary term, which is now coming to an end, skyrocketed to 134 according to the Bundestag administration - in the 19th parliamentary term there were only 49. Members of the AfD parliamentary group alone received 85 of these calls to order. The outgoing President of the Bundestag, Bärbel Bas (SPD), criticized the fact that some MPs collected calls to order like trophies and displayed them on the Internet.

Even below the threshold of heckling, which can be punished by being called to order, behavior in the Bundestag has become rougher. Female MPs, for example, complain about sexist remarks - these also come heavily from the ranks of the AfD. Their parliamentary group has doubled in size since the parliamentary elections - which does not speak for calmer times.

Bas actually wanted to increase the fine - the next sanction step after being called to order - from 1,000 to 2,000 euros so that it would really hurt. However, this did not happen. Her successor Klöckner would have the opportunity to make up for this.

Permanent point of contention for the vice-presidential post for the AfD

Following the election of the Bundestag President, her deputies are also appointed. The CDU/CSU parliamentary group nominated CSU internal affairs politician Andrea Lindholz, the SPD parliamentary group nominated former Parliamentary Secretary Josephine Ortleb and the Left Party parliamentary group nominated former Thuringian Minister President Bodo Ramelow. For the Greens, former party leader Omid Nouripour prevailed in a competitive vote.

As the parliamentary groups usually support the proposals of the other groups, their election is considered certain. The AfD candidate Gerold Otten cannot hope for this. Never before has an AfD candidate for the deputy post received the required number of votes in the ballot. This is likely to happen again now. According to the Bundestag's rules of procedure, the AfD will then be able to push through two more rounds of voting.

Federal President brings the day to a close

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will also be sitting in the predictably full stands in the Reichstag building. However, he still has his own role to play on this day. According to Article 69 of the Basic Law, the term of office of the Federal Chancellor and his ministerial team ends when the new Bundestag convenes.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and his cabinet will therefore receive their certificates of dismissal from Steinmeier in the late afternoon. At the same time, he will ask them to continue to conduct business until their successors are appointed - which they are obliged to do. This is also governed by Article 69.

In principle, this caretaker Federal Government has the same powers as a regular one. This is because Germany should remain fully capable of acting both internally and externally. However, in the opinion of constitutional lawyers, a caretaker government must show the greatest possible political restraint. This transitional period is therefore more about political administration than policy-making.