In Gera in Thuringia, the AfD representative Reinhard Etzrodt was elected chairman of the city council.
Criticism followed - and great outrage.
Reinhard Etzrodt from the AfD was elected chairman of the Gera city council.
The international Auschwitz Committee expressed criticism.
The CDU rejects any allegations.
Gera - After an
AfD man
in
Gera
,
Thuringia
, was appointed chairman of the
city council
, there was criticism from various sides.
The
International
Auschwitz Committee described
the election on Friday
as “undignified and historically forgotten”
.
To the survivors of Auschwitz, the occupation of the office must "sound like mockery to their ears," said the committee's vice-president, Christoph Heubner, in Berlin.
On Thursday evening (September 24th)
Reinhard Etzrodt
received
23 of 40 votes in a secret ballot
in the election for chairman of the
city council
.
The
AfD group
itself only has twelve members, eleven votes came from other groups.
The
AFD
had the largest group in
Gera
city council the right to make proposals.
Worth reading: # AfD politician leads Gera city council - criticism from #Auschwitz committee.
#Gera # Thuringia
via @JuedischeOnline https://t.co/4QmYGXDMRj
- Research & Information Center Antisemitism RIAS (@Report_Antisem) September 25, 2020
Heubner called it a "breakdown in credibility and a destabilization of democracy" when city councilors in a city like
Gera
elected an
AfD representative
as one of the city's most important representatives.
The external impact for Gera is "a devastating signal".
The
Thuringian
state chairwoman of the Left *, Susanne Hennig-Wellsow, accused the
CDU of
having given the
AfD man
votes and "being the sidekick of an extreme right-wing party".
The outgoing SPD state chief Wolfgang Tiefensee reproached the Thuringian
CDU
for not clearly positioning itself against cooperation with the
AfD
.
A "rhetoric of demarcation" is no longer taking from the CDU, "wrote Tiefensee on Twitter.
AfD man elected to city council: CDU rejects allegation
The
CDU *
top
rejected the allegations.
The new CDU country chief Christian Hirte wrote on Twitter that the
Gera CDU
had clearly agreed in the parliamentary group
not to vote for
the
AfD candidate
.
"This is exactly what happened."
The CDU parliamentary group leader in the Thuringian state parliament, Mario Voigt, also stated that the CDU had shown a "clear stance" in Gera and
did not vote for
the
AfD *
man
.
The deputy federal spokesman of the
AfD
, Stephan Brandner, called the election of
Etzrodt
as
Gera city council
chairman
"lived democracy".
Geras Mayor
Julian Vonarb (independent) warned with a view to the election that the city council presidency meant "promoting a constructive cooperation".
There is "no place here" for individual, factional and party interests, Vonarb explained.
The
city council chairman
is responsible for running the meetings.
This essentially includes the opening and closing of the meeting and the determination of the quorum.
He also has the right
to call
individual
city council members
to order and, if necessary, to expel them if they behave improperly.
* Merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital central network.
List of rubric lists: © picture alliance / Bodo Schackow / dpa-Zentralbild / dpa
