The black-red-yellow coalition in Saxony-Anhalt wants to make a new attempt to elect a state commissioner for data protection. The CDU, SPD and FDP announced this on Monday before this week’s state parliament session. The position has been vacant for a long time.
After internal talks, the coalition again agreed on Albert Cohaus as a candidate. In the spring, his election in the state parliament failed surprisingly. The coalition did not get a majority in the vote. Cohaus received 46 votes, 49 would have been necessary. CDU, SPD and FDP together have 56 seats. Cohaus has managed the business of the state commissioner for data protection on an interim basis since January 2021, and as director he is his deputy.
It is unclear why the coalition failed to secure a majority in the secret ballot. According to reports, Cohaus did not convince all MPs when he was presented in the state parliament.
“I assume that we will elect a data protection officer,” said CDU faction leader Guido Heuer on Monday. The parliamentary manager of the SPD parliamentary group, Rüdiger Erben, said that Cohaus was considered the “most suitable applicant”. FDP parliamentary group leader Andreas Silbersack said about the renewed attempt: “I’m cautiously optimistic”.
The opposition announced that it did not want to help the coalition. “We expect the state government to mobilize its own majority,” said the Parliamentary Secretary of the Greens, Sebastian Striegel. The left-wing faction does not doubt Albert Cohaus’s suitability, said parliamentary group leader Eva von Angern. After the “debacle” in the spring, however, the coalition had a duty “to ensure an appropriate end now.”
