Munich (dpa / lby) – The opposition factions of the Greens, SPD and FDP in the Bavarian state parliament have spoken out in favor of setting up two committees of inquiry this year. One of the committees is to deal with the rental agreement for the new Museum of the Future in Nuremberg, a branch of the Deutsches Museum in Munich. The second is to take a close look at the cost explosion in the construction of a second S-Bahn trunk line in Munich.
Both committees are under time pressure: they must complete their work before the state elections in autumn 2023. The catalog of questions for the committees should be prepared by November. The votes of the three opposition factions in the state parliament are sufficient to bring about the establishment of the committees.
The renting of the premises for the Nuremberg Future Museum was also criticized by the Bavarian Supreme Court of Auditors (ORH). The lease is “landlord-friendly”. The landlord is a CSU party donor. It should also be clarified why in the decisive negotiation phase for the contract the then finance minister and current Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) intervened – and not the responsible Ministry of Science. Nuremberg is Söder’s hometown.
There is at least the suspicion that Söder has pushed through a prestige project “by breaking all the rules” that is personally useful to him, said SPD parliamentary group leader Florian von Brunn. The entire project is accompanied by new revelations almost every month,” said Green politician Verena Osgyan.
Brunn said that the cost of the main route had increased tenfold from the EUR 700 million discussed in 2001 to over EUR 7 billion. The state government has now replaced three key people in the Ministry of Transport. Not only are the costs increasing, but the schedule is also getting completely out of whack.
CSU General Secretary Martin Huber said on Wednesday that the facts on both issues were on the table. The opposition uses the instrument of the parliamentary investigative committee in an inflationary manner. He considers their appointment to be an abuse of parliamentary law and a clear campaign tactic. “The opposition is not interested in enlightenment, they just want a spectacle,” said Transport Minister Christian Bernreiter (CSU). In the afternoon, CSU faction leader Thomas Kreuzer also wanted to comment.
