The opposition leader in the Hessian state parliament, Nancy Faeser (SPD), has accused Prime Minister Volker Bouffier (CDU) of breaking his oath.

He swore to obey the country's constitution, but violated it.

Because he was responsible for the special fund that the State Court rejected last week.

Ewald Hetrodt

Correspondent for the Rhein-Main-Zeitung in Wiesbaden.

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The judges had disapproved of the authorization of the state government to take on debts amounting to twelve billion euros in order to economically cope with the pandemic.

The state government is standing in front of the ruins of its policy, said Faeser on Wednesday in a turbulent special session of parliament.

Finance Minister Michael Boddenberg (CDU) must draw the conclusions, demanded the Social Democrat and reminded of the CDU politician Willi Stächele from Baden-Württemberg: He resigned from his office as state parliament president after the State Court ruled that a law that Stächele had previously considered Finance Minister had submitted was unconstitutional.

"Consciously and deliberately broken the constitution"

The damage that Bouffier and Boddenberg had done affects them and their government irreparably, added Faeser. But it also affects politics and parliament as a whole. Because it confirms the worst prejudices of the people. In the deepest crisis since the Second World War, the state government did not seek the consensus of the Democrats to help in the pandemic. Instead, she “deliberately and deliberately broke the constitution in order to gain a party-political advantage from this crisis.” She approved 22 billion euros in order to secure her re-election.

With her criticism, Faeser “lost the measure a bit,” replied Boddenberg. After interpreting the verdict in initial reactions as a tie between the government and the opposition, he also said on Wednesday: “This is a defeat for me. We don't have to talk that away. Also for me personally. ”With the statement that the FAZ had tried in several articles to“ write down ”the verdict as it was then, the finance minister triggered such loud heckling that the parliamentary president had to calm things down.

Boddenberg announced that the corona aid would in future be shown in the core budget.

The special fund will be dissolved.

In the course of its resolution, there will be changes to the draft state budget for 2022 in order to put all the necessary aid from the state on a different legal basis.

No blueprint

New applications for the use of the special fund are only possible until the end of the year and only if there is a clear reference to the pandemic, ”explained the finance minister. “But one thing is clear: all legal obligations will be met. There is no reversal of aid that has already started. ”The postponement of the further deliberations of the budget by one to two months gives everyone the opportunity to“ incorporate information that the court has given us with its judgment ”just as carefully as the results of the upcoming ones November tax estimate.

There was no blueprint for the crisis, nor for dealing with it and the debt brake, said Boddenberg. Not only Hesse, but also the federal government and the other states, had entered uncharted territory in terms of constitutional law in overcoming the crisis. The State Court of Justice emphasized this in its judgment. This therefore has an impact far beyond the Hessian state borders. "Last but not least, it should also influence the current coalition negotiations at federal level," said the finance minister.

The judges' decision put the "narrow-mindedness and arrogance of the state government in their place," said René Rock, the parliamentary group leader of the FDP. The judges have strengthened the role of the MPs. “The budget rests with parliament.” The FDP is again offering its support to the black-green government coalition in the reorganization of the budget. "Our hand remains outstretched."

In her speech, Faeser “did not leave out any insolence” and accused the governing coalition of base motives, complained Mathias Wagner, the parliamentary group leader of the Greens.

“But I can't see anything wrong with our motivation.” After the outbreak of the pandemic, people wanted to take away people's fears and worries.

The governing coalition was under great pressure.

She also spoke to the opposition - "but we couldn't have another twenty coffee parties."

Like the other speakers in the governing coalition, Ines Claus, the leader of the CDU parliamentary group, emphasized that the verdict was received “with humility, but not with shame”.

“It is painful that we now have to rework here.

It is not a reason for resignations. "