Erfurt (dpa/th) – The talks between the leaders of the Left, SPD, Greens and CDU parliamentary groups on the budget for the coming year are dragging on. They are still far apart, said the Thuringian CDU parliamentary group leader Mario Voigt on Monday after a first round of talks in the Thuringian state parliament. The meeting had not yet brought a final result, which is why further talks were agreed for Monday afternoon.
The red-red-green coalition does not have a majority in parliament and is dependent on opposition votes to pass the budget for 2023. The main negotiating partner is the largest opposition faction, the CDU.
If the budget is to be decided this year, time is of the essence – especially after the deliberations in the budget and finance committee were postponed last Thursday. The committee is scheduled to hold a special meeting on Tuesday. The last time the budget was passed was on Friday – i.e. during the regular session of the state parliament.
However, the state parliament administration pointed out the dangers: Every member of parliament must have the documents in good time before the start of the plenary session, so that the members of parliament “take note of them and can examine, prepare and introduce any initiatives of their own for the plenary session in good time,” says a letter by the head of the state parliament, Jörg Hopfe, to the parliamentary groups. The “Thüringer Allgemeine” reported about it first. “A violation of this obligation would lead to an unconstitutional and thus constitutionally contestable budget law.” This is in the paper that is available to the German Press Agency.
It remains uncertain whether the “requirements made by the Thuringian Constitutional Court for the timely submission of advisory documents can be met”. As an alternative, Hopfe proposes a special session of the state parliament in the week before Christmas to decide on the budget.
The FDP group in the Thuringian state parliament called for “thoroughness before speed”, as group spokesman Thomas Kemmerich announced. The FDP also questioned the special session of the budget and finance committee. “If numerous amendments are submitted at short notice, their well-founded acknowledgment and examination may not be possible in the required quality,” said a statement from the FDP group. “Better a late budget than a bad budget,” said Kemmerich.
