Constitutional court to decide on regional German parliamentary chaos

Following a chaotic first session of the Thuringian state parliament in eastern Germany after a far-right party got the most votes in a recent election, the Thuringian Constitutional Court is to decide how to proceed.

Chaos broke out on Thursday when the senior legislator of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, Jürgen Treutler, refused to grant other parties' requests to speak, or file motions or debate on procedural rule changes.

The state constitutional court is due to rule on Friday on an urgent application by the conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) faction, which it says other parties will participate in, to allow other parties to put forward candidates for president of the state parliament.

The session abruptly adjourned amid a standoff over the AfD's plans to put forward Wiebke Muhsal for the role.

The other parties have dismissed her nomination as a mere provocation, pointing in part to a past conviction for fraud, and she has little chance of commanding a majority given the opposition of all other parties.

But the AfD refused to consider changes to the rules that would allow other parties to put forward competing candidates, instead abruptly adjourning the meeting.

The CDU and newly formed Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) submitted a motion that would allow all parliamentary groups to propose candidates from the outset, but Treutler ignored this, prompting the CDU to accuse him of exceeding his authority

"This was an attack on parliamentary rights, on the constitution and on every single member of parliament," said Thuringian CDU leader Mario Voigt.

"What you are doing here is a seizure of power," CDU member Andreas Bühl said.