Rhineland-Palatinate
AfD politicians must not compete in Ludwigshafen in the mayor election
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Joachim Paul wanted to become Mayor of Ludwigshafen. Now he was excluded from the election. He has already been accused of “right -wing extremist ideas”.
Because of doubts about the constitutional loyalty, AfD politician Joachim Paul has not been admitted as a candidate in the mayor election in Ludwigshafen. The election committee decided with the majority, the city said. Several media had previously reported.
“The background is doubts that the applicant meets the legally given requirements,” wrote a spokeswoman for the city. “Specifically, the question of whether the applicant offers the guarantee that he always stands for the free democratic basic order within the meaning of the Basic Law.”
In Ludwigshafen, the next mayor will be elected on September 21. We are looking for a successor for the independent incumbent Jutta Steinruck. The politician, which was leaving from the SPD, no longer competes some time ago.
Paul speaks of undemocratic election in Ludwigshafen
A letter from the Ministry of the Interior in Mainz was preceded by Paul’s public statements. The city asked this, said a ministry spokesman. The election committee had the legal mandate to examine the submitted election proposals and to decide on their approval.
Paul himself commented on the decision: “Choosing means selecting. Under different candidates.” This is exactly what is now prevented. “The voters in Ludwigshafen and all those who hope for fundamental change and have connected him to the choice of the AfD have been cheated for their voice today.” Whoever becomes the mayor at the end, and the office then owes the office of an undemocratic election.
The 55-year-old is a teacher, comes from Koblenz and is considered one of the sharpest speakers in the AfD parliamentary group in the state parliament in Mainz. Paul has been a member of the AfD since 2013 and moved into the state parliament in 2016. In the 2021 state election, Paul initially scored the top candidate of the AfD, but then withdrew in favor of Michael Frisch.
Missed runoff election in the Rhine-Palatinate district
In 2019, Paul wanted to become the AfD state chairman. At the time, he was considered the most promising candidate at the time, but then withdrew. Before that, the accusation had become loud that he had written a contribution to an NPD-related magazine years ago, which he denied.
Also in 2019, Paul was voted out of the factions of the SPD, CDU, FDP and Greens as chairman of the media committee of the Rhineland-Palatinate state parliament. The factions called “evidence of the connection between the MP Joachim Paul to right -wing extremist ideas”.
In February of this year Paul competed in the district elections of the Rhein-Palatinate district. He reached 19.5 percent of the vote in the first round and thus missed the runoff election.
AfD celebrates election sequence in Rhineland-Palatinate
Sebastian Münzenmaier, Vice of the AfD parliamentary group and Vice of the AfD Rhineland-Palatinate, spoke of a clear violation of the parties that are guaranteed by the Basic Law and an attack on democracy. His party will defend himself with all legal means.
The AfD had recently had some remarkable election results in the Palatinate. In the city of Ludwigshafen, she landed in the Bundestag election in February with the second votes just before the CDU, in the second place, in the constituency of Ludwigshafen/Frankenthal she finished second behind the CDU.
Nationwide caused a sensation that the AfD in the Kaiserslautern constituency was at the top for the two voices, in the first votes the SPD candidate Matthias David Mieves had prevailed over a coin maier.
Three applicants and one applicant approved
The election committee approved three candidates and a candidate for the OB election. According to the city, Klaus Blettner was proposed by the CDU and the free voters, Jens Peter Gotter from the SPD and Michaela Schneider-Wettstein from Volt Germany. Martin Wegner competes as a single candidate.
122,000 people are entitled to vote in the second largest city in Rhineland-Palatinate. If no candidate and no candidate received more than half of the valid votes on September 21, a runoff election will take place on October 12th.
Dpa
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Source: Stern

I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.