The head of the AfD in Brandenburg and faction, Andreas Kalbitz, was expelled from the party with immediate effect on Friday. The reason for this was connections to the right-wing extremist milieu.
- Brandenburg chief Andreas Kalbitz is no longer a member of the AfD .
- The Federal Executive Committee of the Alternatives for Germany decided on Friday afternoon with a small majority.
- Within the party, the exclusion from Kalbitz can be seen as a success for AfD chief Jörg Meuthen .
Update from May 16, 2020: Former AfD head Andreas Kalbitz has called on his supporters to remain in the AfD . "I ask you warmly: Do not resign, we will of course continue. Responsibility for our country is more important than individuals, ”said Kalbitz in a Facebook video on Friday evening.
In addition, Kalbitz noted that the last word had not yet been legally spoken. The federal group leaders Alice Weidel and Alexander Gauland had expressed a similar opinion on Friday evening.
AfD federal executive board makes Ernst - Kalbitz no longer a member of the AfD
First registration:
Potsdam - It is a significant turning point in the history of alternatives for Germany . The federal executive of the AfD on Friday excluded the Brandenburg head of state Andreas Kalbitz from the party. The reason for the exclusion are contacts in the extreme right-wing milieu, which Kalbitz is said to have kept silent in part. The decision was made by the Federal Executive Board with seven votes in favor against five against. Kalbitz , who, as a close confidant of Björn Höcke, was part of the extreme right wing, announced that it would take legal action.
AfD: Exclusion from Andreas Kalbitz - Brandner calls for federal party convention
With the decision, AfD chief Jörg Meuthen prevailed, who had brought about the vote on Kalbitz. The expulsion was carried out according to the decision "because of the concealment of membership" in the right-wing extremist, now banned " Home Youth German Youth (HDJ) ". In addition, Kalbitz did not indicate membership in the party The Republicans in the 90s. The HDJ is one of the organizations on the AfD's incompatibility list . Active or former members of the groups listed there may not be admitted to the AfD.
Kalbitz excluded from the AfD: Gauland considers decision "wrong and dangerous for the party"
After the meeting, Meuthen said to several television stations that the board of directors had "assessed the legal question of whether the conditions that led to Mr. Kalbitz's admission in 2013 were legally correct or not." The majority of the board came to the conclusion that "they are not". Kalbitz , who left the board meeting after the decision, said: "This is not the end of the story." It is not a question of content, but of a "power struggle". AfD parliamentary group leader Alexander Gauland told the ARD that he considered the decision "wrong and dangerous for the party". He also doesn't think "that it is legal". Gauland is considered the most important sponsor of Kalbitz in the AfD. AfD Federal Vice Brandner wrote about the short message service Twitter, "now and urgently" a federal party conference is needed , at which each board member can explain the reasons for his decision for or against Kalbitz .
7: 5: 1 ... I mean, we now urgently and urgently need a federal party conference in which every BuVo member can explain his reasons for his decision. Incidentally, I was with the five. https://t.co/gz7PQ9RkWP
- Stephan Brandner (@StBrandner) May 15, 2020Andreas Kalbitz: AfD head of state and board member excluded from party
The 47-year-old Kalbitz has been a member of the AfD federal executive board since the end of 2017 . Along with Björn Höcke , head of the Thuringian state and parliamentary group, he is one of the leading figures in the ultra-right wing in the AfD, which had recently formally announced its dissolution. Kalbitz was a top candidate in the state election in Brandenburg in September, in which the AfD took second place with 23.5 percent of the vote. Kalbitz joined the AfD in its founding phase in spring 2013. Born in Munich, who only moved to the east years after the turn, has been a member of the Potsdam Landtag since October 2014. In April 2017 he inherited Gauland as the AfD state chair in Brandenburg, and since the end of 2017 he has been the parliamentary group leader.
AfD exclusion: SPD politician demands Kalbitz to resign from the state parliament
From his past, new links to the right-wing extremist camp have become known in recent years. Such was Kalbitz in 2007 at a Pentecostal camp of the HDJ. From the end of 2014, he was chairman of the "Archive of the Time" association, which was co-founded by a former SS Hauptsturmführer. The Brandenburg SPD parliamentary group leader Erik Stohn asked Kalbitz to also resign from his state parliament . A single party exclusion does not change the fact that the Brandenburg AfD from Kalbitz is "squaded through". Brandenburg's CDU general secretary Gordon Hoffmann said that despite the expulsion, right-wing extremism "will continue to have a permanent place in the AfD".
fd with AFP
List of rubric lists: © dpa / Jens Büttner
