Constitutional amendment to establish committees of inquiry

Before the newly elected 19th state parliament is constituted on May 18, 2026, the previous Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament discussed an amendment to the state constitution to establish investigative committees in a special session. The reason is a bill from the SPD, CDU and ALLIANCE 90/THE GREENS parliamentary groups, which is intended to increase the minority quorum necessary for the establishment of a committee of inquiry. The three factions justify the move with the strengthening of the AfD and the concern that investigative committees could be misused for political purposes. As a result of the planned new regulations, the AfD would not be able to set up investigative committees independently, despite its significantly larger parliamentary group in the new state parliament. So far, a committee of inquiry can be set up at the request of a fifth of the MPs. In the future, a quarter of the members of the state parliament will be required for this, similar to several other state parliaments. In the newly elected 19th state parliament with 105 representatives, 27 votes would be necessary. The AfD will be represented there with 24 MPs. A total of three discussions in the state parliament and a two-thirds majority are required to change the state constitution. As a result of the constitutional change, the investigative committee law and the state parliament's rules of procedure would also have to be adjusted. The constitutional amendment was approved in the final vote with 79 yes votes from the SPD, ALLIANCE 90/THE GREENS and CDU factions. Twelve MPs from the AfD and FW factions voted against it, four MPs abstained, including Bernhard Braun (ALLIANCE 90/THE GREENS). In the FDP parliamentary group there was one vote against from Stefan Thoma, one vote in favor from Cornelia Willius-Senzer and three abstentions.

Vote breakdown