The AfD wants to appoint its first district administrator in Germany in southern Thuringia – and is already focusing on the 2024 local elections. Can members of a party classified as extremist become mayors?
In the Brandenburg district of Oder-Spree, the AfD district administrator candidate just barely missed victory – now the party is making a new attempt in Thuringia to provide the first AfD district administrator in Germany. “What a headline that would be,” shouted Thuringia’s AfD leader Björn Höcke at a state party conference in early May. “The Federal Republic of Germany would tremble, and that must be our goal.”
On Sunday, people in the southern Thuringian district of Sonneberg will elect a new district administrator – unscheduled, the incumbent retired due to illness. The AfD senses an opportunity. “South Thuringia is one of our strongholds,” says Höcke of the German Press Agency. At least they want to get into the runoff.
Secured far-right endeavor
The AfD, which in Thuringia is classified and observed by the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution as a guaranteed right-wing extremist movement, sends its member of parliament, the lawyer Robert Stuhlmann, to the race for the election. Anja Schönheit (independent), Nancy Schwalbach (Greens) and Jürgen Köpper (CDU) are also hoping for the chief chair in the district office. Köpper has been a full-time deputy in the district of Sonneberg since 2019 and is currently interim district administrator. Beauty is supported by the SPD and Pro Sonneberg.
AfD candidate Stuhlmann had already competed for the AfD in the district of Sonneberg – and failed. In the 2019 district election, the lawyer came third and did not make it into the runoff.
How good the chances of the individual candidates are this time is rather unclear. There are no polls like in state elections. Although special local issues often play a role in local elections, state politicians are also watching the outcome of the elections in Sonneberg with interest.
Thuringia is CDU domain
Local elections are coming up in many regions next year, and mayors will also be elected in many cities and communities in other eastern German states such as Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. In Thuringia, the local elections are considered the domain of the CDU, in which it has usually emerged as the clear winner in the past. But the AfD wants to dig the water out of the Christian Democrats. “We want to be the strongest force in local elections,” says Höcke.
In the federal states as well as in the federal government, the AfD is currently completely isolated, with no real options for power. This also applies to the state elections next year in Thuringia, Brandenburg and Saxony.
In the municipalities, however, the party could shape. It is currently unclear whether the AfD will even find enough applicants for the municipalities. With around 1,400 members, the AfD in Thuringia is a small party. Höcke himself admits that it can be difficult to find enough candidates. “It is also clear that the support for the AfD is currently greater than the staff that we have.” He is therefore in favor of entering the race with open lists of candidates. “Of course, the whole thing has to go under the AfD heading,” said Höcke.
Would an AfD mayor even be possible?
Anyone who wants to be mayor in Thuringia, as elsewhere in Germany, has to stand on the ground of the Basic Law. But the State Office for the Protection of the Constitution has classified the Thuringian AfD as extremist. But is mere membership in the AfD enough to appear unsuitable as mayor? The Thuringian Ministry of the Interior and Municipal Affairs assumes that this is not enough.
“Exclusion from the election is extremely difficult and must be really well justified,” says Interior Secretary Katharina Schenk (SPD). The Ministry of the Interior is currently developing a guideline on how to deal with candidates who have doubts about the foundation of democratic values. As an example of a possible case, Schenk cited the mayoral candidacy of a nationally known neo-Nazi in southern Thuringia in 2022. He was admitted as a candidate, although it was undisputed that he was a right-wing extremist. It is always a case-by-case assessment – and a serious decision, says the Secretary of State for the Interior.
Source: Stern
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