Mobile Phone Signal Jammer for German Parliament?
When the Federal Assembly re-elected German President Horst Köhler to a second term on May 24, it was hardly unexpected. But the way in which word got out of the Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament, and the way the vote itself was handled has ruffled quite a few feathers.
Hoorst Seehofer, the head of the CSU, accepts flowers during the May 24 vote for president, while Chancellor Angela Merkel sits to his right.
The parliamentary group of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) is particularly upset that two representatives used Twitter to disseminate confidential information about the vote before it was official. The social-networking Web site allows users to transmit text messages of 140 characters or less, which can then be read online or on mobile telecommunication devices.
The SPD is currently looking into whether a mobile-phone signal-jamming transmitter could be installed in the building. "We want to know if it would be technically feasible," says Christian Lange, an SPD member of the Bundestag's Council of Elders, a 25-member body that assists the Bundestag's president, manages parliamentary operations and mediates disputes.
The group will also look into whether legislative bodies in other countries have installed such devices and whether they have been effective tools for ensuring confidentiality.
The two parliamentarians who disseminated the information prematurely were Julia Klöckner, a member of the Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU), and SPD member Ulrich Kelber. Klöckner later apologized and resigned her position as secretary of the Federal Assembly's election committee. The Federal Assembly is a collection of 1,224 politicians from the federal and state level that convenes to elect Germany's president.
Kelber, for his part, has defended his twittering.
Sticklers for Protocol
But it wasn't just the tweets that had people atwitter. Even before the results were made official, a band began playing and flowers were distributed, clearly indicating that Köhler had won re-election in the first round of voting (of a possible three).
Criticism from the SPD and the Greens was immediate. Both parties had almost unanimously supported Gesine Schwan to replace Köhler. Schwan, the candidate nominated by the Social Democrats, lost 613-503. SPD parliamentarian Christian Lange said the premature celebration was "inappropriate and dishonorable." The CDU responded by saying the SPD were "poor losers."