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Coalition crisis in Brandenburg: Four BSW MPs resign!
Four MPs are leaving the BSW parliamentary group in Brandenburg, criticizing authoritarian tendencies and calling for reforms.
Coalition crisis in Brandenburg: Four BSW MPs resign!
The political situation in Brandenburg is becoming increasingly tense: On Tuesday evening, four members of the Brandenburg Social Democrats (BSW) announced that they were leaving the party. Jouleen Gruhn, Melanie Matzies, André von Ossowski and Reinhard Simon accuse the BSW of exhibiting authoritarian tendencies and exerting internal pressure that endangers a healthy democratic culture of discussion. This decision was made after an internal party dispute over two state media contracts that are now up for a vote in the state parliament. The MPs have already submitted a motion of no confidence against the parliamentary group leadership led by Niels-Olaf Lüders. How MDR reported, they question the BSW's current political direction and call for more comprehensive reforms.
This comes at a particularly critical time, because the government coalition in Brandenburg is on the brink. After the four MPs leave, the BSW, which previously held 14 seats in the Brandenburg state parliament, loses its absolute majority. Without these MPs, the BSW only has 10 seats, reducing the coalition from 46 to 42 MPs. In the Brandenburg state parliament, the 88 seats are divided as follows: the SPD holds 32 seats, the AfD is strongly represented with 30 seats and the CDU has 12 seats. So far there is no majority for a coalition of SPD and CDU, reports Daily Mirror.
Growing unrest within the BSW
The loss of members promptly plunged the BSW into a crisis. MEPs noted in their statement that open discussions and the inclusion of diverse voices had increasingly been pushed to the background. Instead, radicalized positions would dominate. The debate about the planned media treaties, which include reforms for ARD, ZDF and Deutschlandradio as well as youth media protection, has triggered additional conflicts within the parliamentary group. While Finance Minister Robert Crumbach supports the reforms, the Federal Executive Board rejects them.
These internal tensions have led to BSW leader Sahra Wagenknecht announcing that she will not run again for party leadership at the upcoming federal party conference in December. This decision could further aggravate the political climate within the BSW, especially after the recent resignations.
The SPD is surprised by the sudden departure of MPs and would now like to quickly talk to the BSW parliamentary group leadership in order to clarify the situation. The future of this governing coalition hangs in the balance and it remains to be seen how the situation will develop.