Fraudulent Candidate Applications Spark Controversy in AfD: Electoral List Under Scrutiny

Today the AfD federal executive board is discussing candidates who are said to have provided false information when applying for the European elections. If the allegations are correct, the entire electoral list must be drawn up again.

At a meeting of the AfD federal executive board today, the focus is on party members who are said to have provided false biographical information when applying for the European elections. At the end of July, the AfD nominated a total of 35 candidates for the European Parliament election next year in a complex party conference process in Magdeburg. Shortly afterwards, media research revealed inconsistencies regarding the CVs of several candidates.

In response, the AfD federal executive committee had the CVs of all 35 candidates checked. The result will be discussed today by the Federal Executive Board. When the party will address this to the public will be decided later today, Monday.

Explosive electoral list

If only one of the AfD politicians provided false information when applying for office in Magdeburg, the entire electoral list must be re-drawn, i.e. re-elected. Several constitutional lawyers expect this. So said Michael Brenner, a law professor at the University of Jena MDR-Inquiry: “If the deficiency becomes apparent before the list is submitted – i.e. before it is submitted to the returning officer – a replacement of applicants can only be achieved through a new candidate nomination process.” This also applies to the deletion of individual applicants.

The AfD sees it the same way: “A replacement of applicants, as well as a change in the order of applicants, is only permitted through a new candidate nomination process. The same applies to the deletion of individual applicants,” said a spokesman for the federal office MDR-Inquiry with.

The reason for the comprehensive examination are allegations against two candidates from Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg, which affect places ten and 14 on the list. According to research by “t-online,” Arno Bausemer from the Altmark is said to have stated in his application that he had worked as a “managing director of an agricultural business” for several years. Mary Khan-Holoch from Brandenburg is said to have claimed to have “completed a degree in religious studies and public law with a focus on European law.” The AfD leadership doubts the claims of both candidates.

Nervous federal executive board

The fact that the alleged CV fraudsters in their own ranks have made the party leadership nervous is shown by a resolution submitted by the AfD federal executive committee MDR is present. It says: “Politically, the cases have already caused immense damage to the AfD. Both within the party – the entire federal executive board, but especially Dr. Alice Weidel, have been criticized for weeks – and in terms of external impact.”

In addition, the internal party document states: “We have claimed for ten years that we are different from the old parties. If we now do the same as the old parties, we are violating our party rules, we are reducing our basic principles to absurdity and have forfeited the law in the future “To criticize professional politicians in the old parties.”

The Top candidate

In the case of the top candidate Maximilian Krah from Saxony (number 1 on the list), the Tübingen Bar Association has begun investigations. The lawyer has been sitting for the AfD in the European Parliament since 2019. The investigation confirmed at the request of MDR both Chamber Vice President Markus Schellhorn and the Höcker law firm. What this test is about is unclear. Schellhorn refers to his duty of confidentiality.

Possible reason for the examination could be: MDR-Research the question may be where lawyer Maximilian Krah has his office, or whether he even has one. Anyone who cannot state the location of their law firm in any of the 28 chambers in Germany is not allowed to call themselves a lawyer.

The lawyer Maximilian Krah was registered as a lawyer with the Tübingen Bar Association in 2005 through the law firm Solutio Schneider in Biberach in Baden-Württemberg. This is what the official lawyer register shows. The background to the chamber’s investigation could therefore be an interview that the firm’s managing director Achim Schneider gave to the “Schwäbische Zeitung”. In it, the lawyer said that Krah was “zero active in his law firm” and had “probably never been to Biberach.” “He is not an employee of our law firm and does not process any mandates here.”

At the request of MDR Achim Schneider told the law firm Höcker, which specializes in media law: “The fact that our client may have been less precise than Schwäbische on this point is due to the fact that he was not aware that there were any objectively justified doubts about Mr. Krah’s activities could, so he wasn’t even aware of the accusation.”

Few informative

In general, the law firm Solutio Schneider closes MDR-Inquiry about your connection with Maximilian Krah: “Mr. Krah is admitted to the bar and registered through our client’s law firm. Due to his political mandate, Mr. Krah is currently not taking on any new cases, although mail, emails, callback notes, etc. will of course be processed . forwarded to Mr. Krah.”

Krah, whom his party presents to voters as the top candidate, has several MDR-Inquiries about his connection with the Solutio Schneider law firm and the investigations by the Tübingen Bar Association were initially ignored. After publication of the MDRHowever, after researching, he had his office manager say: “The doubts raised about my approval are absurd.” The federal office of the AfD wanted to face this MDR He also cannot comment on his own candidate examination or the Chamber’s investigations and refers to today’s advisory meeting of the Federal Executive Board.