The new Bundestag met for the first time on Tuesday. However, of the 736 newly elected MPs, 23 AfD politicians were not sitting in the plenary chamber, but had to watch from the stands. The reason: the trio refused to comply with the House’s 3G rules and were therefore physically separated from the rest of the parliament – including their party colleagues – and banished to the back of the chamber. AfD MPs were sorted out for hygiene reasons.
And so they sat there like defiant children who have successfully rebelled against their parents and understood their punishment as a reward, without masks but at a distance, because Wolfgang Schauble (CDU), the president of the Bundestag who was replaced today, did not want anyone who had not been vaccinated, recovered or tested in the packed plenary hall.
One of the heroic 23 wore a sticker with the inscription "not vaccinated" and "Umbrella" during the meeting. Congratulations.