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ofAnnette Schlegl
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shut down
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The right wing simply voted out deputy chairman Arno Groß in absentia.
The originally six-member district parliamentary group of the AfD Offenbach-Land has split into two camps after their parliamentary group leader Robert Rankl fell seriously ill. “The regulation between the two sides is missing,” says parliamentary group member Marlies Dassinger. Suddenly hard bandages are being unpacked: The deputy chairman of the district parliamentary group, Arno Groß, was voted out of office by the parliamentary group’s right wing, while Groß himself handed the matter over to a lawyer.
The 57-year-old Rankl suffered a cerebral haemorrhage on April 22nd and is likely to be out for several months. Since then, there has been internal party quarrels in the district assembly, which has shrunk to five members. A collaboration is hardly possible anymore, says Dassinger. The right wing of the group is now trying to come to power. You and Arno Groß, on the other hand, would belong to the moderate wing of the AfD parliamentary group.
The dispute arose over the question of whether the AfD parliamentary group needs a parliamentary group manager. In the constituent meeting – at that time still with Rankl – concerns were expressed, which is why there was no vote, according to parliamentary group member Hubert Busch. In the following meeting, which then had to take place without Rankl, the majority applied to invite a lady to introduce herself as a possible parliamentary group manager. “It came to a head because Groß did not want the majority vote on it. He left the meeting, ”says Busch.
The dispute later culminated in the deselection of Groß, which took place by acclamation. “Groß does not accept majority decisions, he believes he can simply end a meeting,” explains Busch. On the other hand, the deputy group leader says that he is not right to be voted out of office. According to the statutes, an application and a two-thirds majority are required ten days in advance. And a constellation of three to two members is not a two-thirds majority.
Groß accuses Busch of having himself elected deputy parliamentary group leader by acclamation – although a personal election is a secret ballot – and that he also called a parliamentary group meeting himself. “He’s not allowed to do that either, because he doesn’t have the skills,” says Groß.
He sees with concern that the wing could gain influence, which identifies with the ideology of Carsten Härle – an AfD politician who is assigned to the extreme right. Härle’s name appears in a paper for the protection of the Constitution, he has been excluded from the party by the AfD state executive for two years and had to answer to court for inciting hatred. According to the public prosecutor’s office, it was about a Facebook post in which he publicly played down the rule of the National Socialists. On May 5th he was sentenced by the Offenbach District Court to 60 daily rates of 70 euros for incitement to hatred. Of course, when asked by FR, Härle appealed because he wanted an acquittal and considered the process to be a scandal. The judge had even summoned his children, saying that this was “worst clan justice”.
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