Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder (SPD) is suing the Bundestag for the restoration of the special rights that were revoked in May. The 78-year-old demands that a former Chancellor’s office with employees be made available to him again, as his Hanoverian lawyer Michael Nagel told the German Press Agency on Friday.
The lawsuit was filed with the Berlin administrative court, said Nagel. The decision of the Bundestag budget committee to cut Schröder’s funds for the equipment of his office in the Bundestag and to put the office on hold is illegal, according to a statement by the law firm available to the dpa. It is “claimed that former Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder no longer takes care of the so-called “after-effects of official duties”. “However, it is not specified what “long-term official duties” actually are, how their perception or non-perception is to be determined and what procedure is otherwise to be followed,” the statement continues.
The whole process is “written on the forehead that reasons other than those specified by the “new rules” were decisive for the decision of the budget committee”. Such decisions are more reminiscent of an absolutist princely state “in terms of the way they came about” and should not last in a democratic constitutional state, Schröder’s lawyers explained.
The former chancellor has been heavily criticized for his commitment to Russian energy companies and his closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin. However, the Budget Committee did not justify the partial cancellation of Schröder’s privileges with his work for the energy companies or his attitude to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. Rather, the “equipment of former chancellors should be carried out according to the ongoing obligations from the office,” says the regulation. Apparently, the parliamentarians could not see this in Schröder.
Last year, more than 400,000 euros flowed from the state treasury for personnel expenses in Schröder’s office. Schröder will continue to receive his pension of 8,300 euros after the decision, as well as personal security.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) welcomed the decision in May as “logical”. In the context of the decision, the European Parliament had spoken out in favor of sanctions against Schröder with a large majority. It was only on Monday that the SPD arbitration committee in Schröder’s hometown of Hanover rejected the expulsion of the former chancellor from the party.
Schröder’s Hanoverian lawyer is considered one of the most renowned criminal lawyers in Germany. He represented, among others, the former Federal President Christian Wulff.
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“In May 2022, on the recommendation of the budget committee, the German Bundestag decided to appoint former Chancellor D. Gerhard Schröder to cut the funds for equipping his office in the German Bundestag and to put the office on hold. This decision is illegal. We have therefore filed a lawsuit with the administrative court in Berlin. We are only making this one statement in the hope that the legal issues raised will only be discussed in court and not via the media, also in the interests of the defendants.
Those responsible determined new rules to legitimize the now contested decision. However, clarifying the underlying facts in advance, at least according to their own new standards, was not worth the effort. Instead, it is claimed that former Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder no longer takes on the so-called “after-effects of official duties”. However, it is not specified what “long-term official duties” actually are, how their perception or non-perception is to be determined and what procedure is otherwise to be observed. The whole process is written on the forehead that other reasons than those given by the “new rules” were decisive for the decision of the budget committee.
Decisions of this kind, which in terms of the way they were made are more reminiscent of an absolutist princely state, must not endure in a democratic constitutional state. The decision is arbitrary. Their mere acceptance and unchecked acceptance cannot be considered. Former Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder was not given the opportunity to comment before the decision was made, nor was he given any other legal hearing. The procedure must finally be conducted according to the principles of the rule of law and the matter then decided by the court if necessary. Communication via the media, which has characterized the previous procedure, should therefore no longer take place until the administrative court has decided on the matter.”
More on Russia and former Chancellor Schröder:
Gerhard Schröder may remain in the SPD. The arbitration commission rejected all applications for a party expulsion, reports the Süddeutsche Zeitung. However, the decision can still be appealed.
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