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Max Otte
Photo: Karlheinz Schindler / dpa
"I'm happy to accept the AfD's nomination": Max Otte, head of the Values Union, will run for the AfD for the office of Federal President.
That's what he told SPIEGEL.
He considers the proposal "a great honor." He sees the AfD "clearly based on the Basic Law," Otte continued.
Therefore, "a CDU exclusion procedure against me would not only be incomprehensible, but also incompatible with democratic principles."
Otte is a member of the CDU, which is why he is threatened with party order proceedings by the Christian Democrats.
"The office of Federal President escapes party disputes," he said.
"The warnings from the CDU played no role in my decision-making." At the same time, Otte signaled that he would take the chance in the event of party order proceedings.
"I will not leave the CDU voluntarily," he said.
In a joint conference call between the federal executive board and the state leaders, a majority in the AfD decided on Otte as a candidate on Monday.
According to SPIEGEL, there was a heated internal debate beforehand.
The CDU leadership had given Otte an ultimatum until 5:30 p.m. to explain whether he would accept the nomination.
At 6 p.m., the federal executive board will discuss the further procedure, announced the new Secretary General, Mario Czaja, who is not yet in office.
Otte has been said to be close to the AfD for years.
In 2017 he told the "Wirtschaftswoche" that he would vote for the AfD in the federal elections.
Until January 2021, Otte was also chairman of the board of trustees of the AfD-affiliated Desiderius Erasmus Foundation.
Otte himself says that he is a "rock-solid and rock-solid" member of the CDU.
Otte's line-up is purely symbolic: the AfD only has 152 of 1,472 seats in the Federal Assembly on February 13.
He should not have a chance against the incumbent Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whose candidacy is supported by the SPD, Greens and FDP as well as the Union.
as /flo/vme
