Scandal in the state parliament: CDU pays inadmissible allowances despite investigations!

Scandal in the state parliament: CDU pays inadmissible allowances despite investigations!

Magdeburg, Deutschland - Political turbulence in Saxony-Anhalt is steadily increasing. The CDU parliamentary group is currently the focus of the investigators in the state parliament of Magdeburg, who are working to MPs about suspicion of infidelity and inadmissible allowances. As the Borkener Zeitung , the searches in the parliamentary group from CDU, SPD and AfD took place on Tuesday. The investigators were supported by the State Criminal Police Office, and the efforts were made on the basis of judicial orders.

The allegations that are in the room are serious. It is believed that especially since the parliamentary reform of 2020, which states that allowances may only be paid to specific officials, and the CDU parliamentary group has continued to pay payments to MPs with special functions. The deputy group leader of the CDU, Frank Bommersbach, currently receives 682.50 euros per month in addition to his diet of 8,736.66 euros. The heads of the CDU working groups can also look forward to EUR 531.64 per month, a regulation that, according to the State Audit Office, is very questionable under constitutional law and cannot be agreed with the MPs' Act.

background of the investigation

The investigation was initiated by an advertisement by the federal taxpayer in November 2023. The suspected suspicion: around 113,250 euros in inadmissible allowances that were paid to MPs, although such payments should be considered illegal since 2020. As the Tagesspiegel , the payments were justified under the guise of "additional expenditure damage", which is not the true nature of the expenses reflected.

The CDU parliamentary group sparked payments of 66,000 euros and in 2022 of 47,250 euros for special functions; The AfD parliamentary group documented around 25,600 euros in 2021 and the SPD parliamentary group 7,500 euros. The taz adds that the SPD parliamentary group has already abolished the allowances for its deputy parliamentary group leader in response to the emerging criticism. The Greens have also clearly spoken and criticize the actions of other factions as violations of applicable law.

The reactions of the political groups

The allegations also called the AfD faction on the plan, which rejects the accusations of the infidelity and has provided all the necessary documents. The CDU, on the other hand, has not yet commented on the processes, which, in view of the severity of the situation, has met with displeasure. The State Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, Steffen Eckold, who was managing director of the CDU parliamentary group until 2022, is also the focus of the suspicion that he knew about the inadmissible allowances.

Now it remains to be seen how the situation is developing. The evaluation of the seized documents will take time, and whether there will be criminal consequences is still unclear. What is certain is that there is far from being quiet in Saxony-Anhalt and such topics will certainly also employ the voters.