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AfD delegates at the federal party conference (2019 in Kalkar): The Berliners are probably not there in Riesa this time
Photo: Henning Kaiser / dpa
The federal party conference of the AfD in Riesa is likely to take place next weekend without delegates from Berlin.
Shortly before the party conference, the AfD federal arbitration court followed a decision by the Berlin AfD state arbitration court from this spring, which had canceled the delegate election.
25 Berlin delegates elected last year will thus be able to save themselves the trip to Saxony.
The decision of the Federal Arbitration Court comprises eleven pages and is available to SPIEGEL.
In it, the first chamber of the highest party court confirmed the judgment of the Berlin Arbitration Court of May 9, 2022 - and stated: "The election of the federal delegates was ineffective." An appeal, according to the party judges, was "not available".
Election fraud allegations against Beatrix von Storch
At the center of the case is the Berlin member of the Bundestag and deputy AfD federal chairwoman Beatrix von Storch.
She was accused of putting three candidates on the list of applicants in June 2021, although they neither wanted to apply nor had done so.
According to this, von Storch put three candidates on the election list for the delegate election when it had already been closed.
Von Storch said in November that the allegations were unfounded.
The Federal Court of Arbitration sees it differently.
Among other things, it stated that the then chairman of the meeting at the Berlin delegate election in June 2021 "should be reproached for letting Ms von Storch push her to put the three names on the list without having checked beforehand whether the candidates were just like all of them treated by others".
The judgment of the Federal Arbitration Court also states that Berlin federal delegates elected before 2021 "could not alternatively fulfill the function".
Most recently, there had been speculation in the AfD that the Berlin delegates at the 2019 party congress could substitute in Riesa.
As SPIEGEL learned, the AfD federal executive board may deal with the case of the Berlin delegates again on Thursday.
For example, the committee could still make it possible for delegates from Berlin to attend.
As has been heard, however, there is no consensus in the federal executive committee - the federal party conference could therefore take place without Berlin participation.
Chrupalla attacks rival Kleinwächter
At the party conference starting Friday, among other things, the new national board will be elected;
one of the candidates for the federal presidency is the previous incumbent, Tino Chrupalla.
He sharply attacked his competitor for the federal presidency, Norbert Kleinwaechter.
“Norbert Kleinwächter was not even appointed as a delegate or substitute delegate to the party congress by the Brandenburg state association.
If Saxony would refuse to follow me, I would humbly sit down in the guest gallery and not run for office," Chrupalla told the "Welt".
Kleinwächter pointed out that he had been put up as a candidate for the Bundestag at two party conferences of the Brandenburg AfD and that the parliamentary group had elected him to the board.
"So I'm certainly not lacking for support," said Kleinwächter.
"In the competition for the party leadership, I prefer the substantive debate, not personal defamation." He is running for the presidency alongside the AfD MEP Nicolaus Fest.
Chrupalla is also withdrawing his internal proposal for a "West Commissioner" in the AfD, according to "Welt".
"I've never publicly called for a western commissioner for the AfD," he said.
"What I'm asking for is a West initiative in the new federal executive board and in other bodies." His proposal had triggered sharp criticism within the West German state associations.
