Germany Parliament Officially Opens

The German new parliament was officially opened on Tuesday. However, the new parliament has been overshadowed by the fears that the first far-right party in the parliament history known as Alternative for Germany was only interested in confrontation rather than cooperation. One of its members, however, could not attend the session as he had been barred by rules related to the order of the business. This is the main reason why they made their presence known by submitting a petition to challenge this technicality. However, the move was unanimously rejected by the parliament. Things didn’t go well for Angela Merkel during the opening as former partners ganged up against her leadership. Some experts and scholars speculate that this might be the end of the consensus style politics. This is a form of politics that have been ongoing in Germany since the fall of the Berlin wall. Alternative for Germany leader in parliament Bernd Baumann said that the Germany people had decided that they want new changes. The position of the president of the parliament went to Wolfgang Schauble. For starters, this is the man who served as the finance minister for the Merkel government until this year. He had been involved in the position for the last eight years.

The 75-year-old who has been in parliament since 1972 further said that nobody could be able to represent the German people alone. At the same time, he told the lawmakers that the German people were following the events. They should, therefore, deliver. For instance, he said that the way they spoke at the parliament could go a long way in setting standards upon which can be used by the society. At the same time, he reminded the lawmakers that the parliament had undergone tough times during the 1970s and 1980. He said that the main issue back then was the stationing of the NATO missiles. He also reminded them of the Berlin wall that divided Germany into West Germany and East Germany. It’s worth noting that Alternative for Germany is the third strongest force in the parliament. The party has 92 seats. At the same time, this is a party that managed to convince their supporters to vote for them by criticizing the policies of Angela Merkel. The Christian Democrats, which is the party of Angela Merkel lost 65 seats as a result. This loss forced Mrs. Merkel to form a government with people whom she doesn’t agree on various policies.