AfD causes shut-down of German parliamentary session out of "revenge"

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has made use of a little-known protocol regulation to shut down a session of the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag) on Thursday night.

The AfD demanded a recounting of the number of delegates which revealed that not enough parliamentarians were present during the sessions in order for the legislative body to arrive at binding resolutions. Only 312 rather than the necessary 355 (half of the total of 709) delegates were counted, a parliamentary spokesperson revealed on Friday.

According to regulations governing the official conduct of the Bundestag, parliamentary Vice-President Petra Pau (Linke) was forced to terminate the session.

AfD faction leader Alexander Gauland described the move as "revenge" for his party's failed nomination of Roman Reusch to join the parliamentary control committee which oversees the work of German intelligence agencies.

AfD delegate Uwe Kamann further told press that his party had given the "established parties" a "lesson in democracy" in response to their "unacceptable lies" and "undemocratic behavior" in refusing to back Reusch's nomination.