Wolfgang Schäuble elected new President of the Bundestag
At the constituent sitting for the new electoral term, the German Bundestag elected Dr Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU/CSU) as its new President by a large majority. In a secret ballot on Tuesday, 24 October 2017, Schäuble received 501 of the 705 votes cast. 173 Members voted against him, there were 30 abstentions, and one vote was invalid. 355 votes were required.
Five Vice-Presidents elected
The Bundestag elected Dr Hans-Peter Friedrich (CDU/CSU), Thomas Oppermann (SPD), Wolfgang Kubicki (FDP), Petra Pau (The Left Party) and Claudia Roth (Alliance 90/The Greens) as its Vice-Presidents. Pau and Roth were also Vice-Presidents of the Bundestag in the previous electoral term.
Of 703 votes cast, Hans-Peter Friedrich received 507 votes in his favour, 112 against, 82 abstentions and two invalid votes.
Thomas Oppermann was voted for by 396 Members, while 220 voted against him. There were 81 abstentions and six invalid votes.
Wolfgang Kubicki secured 489 votes. 100 Members voted against him, 111 abstained and three votes were invalid.
456 Members voted for Petra Pau, with 187 votes against her, 54 abstentions and six invalid votes.
Claudia Roth obtained 489 votes in her favour. 166 Members voted against her, there were 45 abstentions and three invalid votes.
The candidate from the AfD, Albrecht Glaser, was not elected in the first three rounds of voting.
The newly elected President of the Bundestag, who has been a constant Member of the Bundestag since 1972, thanked those Members who have left the Bundestag for their parliamentary service, which in some cases extended over decades. By way of example, he mentioned the longest-serving of these Members, Professor Heinz Riesenhuber (CDU/CSU), who opened the constituent sittings of the Bundestag in 2009 and 2013. He also expressed his thanks to his predecessor Professor Norbert Lammert (CDU/CSU), who he said had been an “excellent President of the Bundestag” for twelve years, and also to retiring Vice-Presidents Edelgard Bulmahn (SPD) and Johannes Singhammer (CDU/CSU).
The sitting was opened by Dr Hermann Otto Solms (FDP) as the President by Seniority, who, after Schäuble, has served as a Member of the Bundestag for the longest period of time.