Andreas Kalbitz, Brandenburg's head of state and parliamentary group of the AfD, is excluded from the party - but he remains a member of the parliamentary group.
- 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 18, 9:40 p.m .: Is the AfD threatening a power struggle, the split - and, in the end, the next right- wing slide after the dispute over right-wing Brandenburg state chief Andreas Kalbitz ? Several German newspapers see this possibility in their comments on Tuesday (May 19).
Party spokesman Jörg Meuthen could be "like his predecessors Bernd Lucke and Frauke Petry " if the "the Völkische" did not leave the party, judged, for example, the Weser courier : "They have disappeared into the sinking". "In East Germany there is a threat of open rebellion against Meuthen, should the Kalbitz be kicked out. The AfD there is not so strong despite figures like Kalbitz or Höcke, but because of them. For Meuthen, the endgame has started. If Kalbitz returns, he will be fine have to go, "writes the Straubinger Tagblatt .
AfD boss Jörg Meuthen - is there a “final” in his struggle with the hard right ex- “wing”?
© dpa / Paul Zinken
"The Kalbitz case should be the beginning of the end of the Meuthen era in the AfD ," comments the Saxon Free Press . "So far, any attempt by a previous chairman to differentiate the party from the right has failed. In the shadow of the corona crisis, the AfD is shedding itself again in no time - as with Bernd Lucke or Frauke Petry before. ”
AfD dispute over Kalbitz: "Endgame for Meuthen"? - Saxon AfD people criticize party leaders
Other statements by Montag point in this direction: Saxon AfD politicians have criticized Kalbitz's expulsion from the party. The decision of the federal executive board went “badly”, said Rolf Weigand, head of the AfD youth organization Junge Alternative, on Monday in Dresden. The board acted on "thin ice". The legal process should have been awaited. So far, there has been one statement against the other: "We are in a state based on the rule of law, where it still says: In doubt for the accused."
The Saxon AfD chief Jörg Urban had previously regretted Kalbitz's expulsion and described it as wrong. "The cancellation of his membership should now be examined by an arbitration panel. I am sure that the last word will not be spoken about it yet, ”said Urban.
Berlin's AfD parliamentary group leader Georg Pazderski , however, sees no danger of his party splitting - despite the turbulence surrounding the expulsion. "I don't see that at all, everyone in the AfD is clear about that," Pazderski said on Monday at dpa. The examples Bernd Lucke, Frauke Petry or André Poggenburg would have shown: "Anyone who goes loses."
AfD power struggle? Kalbitz could stay in the party - by legal means
Update of May 18, 14:41: The AFD-law expert Roland Hartwig sees a good chance for Andreas Kalbitz , against the national board decided expulsion from the party to take action. The decision of the board "will not legally exist," said the lawyer and member of the Bundestag of the Süddeutsche Zeitung . Hartwig heads an internal working group to prevent the party from being monitored by the protection of the constitution.
Kalbitz joined the AfD on March 8, 2013, said Hartwig. However, the statute, which is used to justify the nullity of membership, was only adopted in April 2013. Republican membership was also known. Kalbitz could probably go to the Federal Arbitration Court with good chances . If there is not a quick decision there, he can also sue in an ordinary court , said Hartwig.
After being kicked out of the AfD, Kalbitz remained in the Brandenburg parliamentary group
Update from May 18, 2:41 p.m .: The former AfD state chief of Brandenburg, Andreas Kalbitz , remains a member of the parliamentary group despite his expulsion from the party . This was announced by Kalbitz in Potsdam after a special meeting. The Group's rules of procedure have been changed.
"Betrayal of the party": Höcke bursts his collar after Kalbitz is kicked out
Update of May 18, 10:57 a.m .: In view of the current directional dispute in the AfD, Markus Söder sees the party's stance as unmasked. "The AfD has finally shown its true face," said the CSU boss before a CSU board meeting.
It doesn't matter whether the separation from Andreas Kalbitz will be made or not, said Söder. For him, the AfD remains a “central challenge” despite the Corona crisis * . In the end, the AfD will leave "a wreck", "a ruin". It doesn't matter which wing wins out.
Dispute over Kalbitz: AfD chief Meuthen rejects criticism from Höcke
Update of May 18, 9.45 a.m .: A power struggle has broken out in the AfD. After the right-wing board member Andreas Kalbitz was expelled, the party is threatened by a split. Björn Höcke, Thuringia's state chairman and the best-known representative of the right wing in Germany, responded with a declaration of war to party leader Jörg Meuthen . The 48-year-old accuses him of "betrayal of the party" because Meuthen had enforced the exclusion of Kalbitz on the federal executive board (see below). As Höcke explained, he would "not allow our party to be split and destroyed". As the Süddeutsche reports, the holding of a special party conference is being considered as a result of the debate .
AfD chief Chrupalla refers to Kalbitz's great merits
Update from May 18, 9.30 a.m .: AfD chairman Tino Chrupalla criticized the dismissal of Brandenburg's head of state Andreas Kalbitz from the party and awarded this "great" merits. This should have been taken into account in the majority decision on the federal executive board regarding Kalbitz's membership, the 45-year-old said on ARD on Sunday evening . He himself campaigned for Kalbitz - unlike his co-chair Jörg Meuthen , who helped to make the decision. Chrupalla, who has his constituency in Görlitz in Saxony, does not see a split in the party . "There is also no division between east and west."
The AfD's course will not change either, he said. "We are a conservative social party," he said. "Nothing will change." The leaders of the parliamentary group, Alice Weidel and Alexander Gauland, also reject the exclusion from Kalbitz.
AfD kick out? Andreas Kalbitz's application for membership
Update from May 16, 8:00 p.m .: The AfD can no longer find the document that should justify the expulsion of the Brandenburg state and parliamentary leader Andreas Kalbitz. Kalbitz's application for membership had disappeared, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung reported, citing party chairman Jörg Meuthen and parliamentary group leader Alexander Gauland. This concludes the conclusion of the ultra-right Kalbitz on Friday.
The federal executive had declared Kalbitz's admission to the AfD void in 2013 because, on his request, he had concealed earlier memberships from the Republicans and the right-wing extremist “home-loyal German youth”. After losing the form, only witnesses who want to remember Kalbitz's statements seven years ago could prove this.
Björn Höcke (r) and Andreas Kalbitz during the state election in Thuringia.
© dpa / Jens Büttner
Meuthen told the FAS that there were at least two witnesses who could remember the examination of the contents of the admission form. Therefore, he "naturally" assumes that the expulsion will endure. Otherwise the board would "certainly not have done that".
Gauland, on the other hand, told the newspaper that he “considered this story to be completely wrong legally”. Kalbitz had already announced on Friday that it would appeal against the decision.
AfD: Andreas Kalbitz is combative after being kicked out - "Don't kick out"
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 report: 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 loyal 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 far-right 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
Rubric list picture: © dpa / Soeren Stache
