Seating drama in German parliament over who will be next to members for ‘vulgar’ AFD

A ROW is brewing in Germany over who will sit where in parliament after last month’s elections, as no party wants to be seated next to the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AFD).

Rival parties alleged AFD MPS try to put them off with “vulgar” and “lewd” comments, and make “sexist” jokes at the expense of female MPS. Coalition talks are under way as Olaf Scholz attempts to form a new government, but it seems negotiations are just as fraught over seating in the parliamentary chamber.

The Free Democrats (FDP), who have sat next to the AFD for the past four years, say they have had enough of what they claim is boorish behaviour. They are demanding to switch places with Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU), but it seems they don’t want to sit there either.

“It’s no fun sitting next to the AFD,” Stephan Thomae, a senior FDP MP told newspaper Augsburger Allgemeine.

“Our female MPS often have to listen to vulgar, sexually suggestive comments from the ranks of the AFD. It also gets you involved in conversations that you don’t want to have.”

The AFD has been accused by rival parties of seeking to disrupt parliament with a series of stunts, including inviting anti-lockdown protesters into the chamber during the pandemic.

But more is at stake than just an excuse to get away from unfriendly neighbours. “It’s also a question of symbolism,” says Mr Thomae. “The FDP is a party of the centre, while the CDU considers itself right-of-centre.”

The German Bundestag sits in the French style, in a horseshoe arrangement with the parties placed to the left or right of the Speaker’s chair according to their political leanings.

The AFD sit on the far-right, and the Left Party, a successor to the East German communist party, on the far-left, with the others grouped between.

The FDP has traditionally been placed to the right of the conservative Christian Democrats, next to the AFD, because it is seen as more right-wing on economic issues.

But the FDP, which considers itself left of the CDU on many social issues, has long wanted to switch places.