Alternative for Germany (AfD) politician Joachim Paul has confirmed he will pursue legal action after being barred from running for mayor of Ludwigshafen.
The city’s electoral committee cited doubts about the state parliament member’s loyalty to the constitution in its decision, which Paul believes to be politically motivated due to the rising popularity of the right-wing anti-immigration party.
Speaking to Junge Freiheit, Paul said, “We no longer live in a democracy. A promising candidate is being eliminated from the race.” He added that “the will of the voters is being trampled on.”
Paul pointed out that the AfD had emerged as the second-strongest party in Ludwigshafen during the last federal election. He emphasized that elections must include genuine choice for voters.
The decision was made by a six-member electoral committee composed of representatives from the SPD, CDU, Free Voters, and FDP. Demonstrations against Paul, including by left-wing extremists, were held in the run-up to the decision.
Sebastian Münzenmaier, deputy leader of the AfD in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, called the ruling “a clear violation of the constitutionally guaranteed equal treatment of parties and thus an attack on democracy.”
“Interior Minister [Michael] Ebling has learned absolutely nothing from his recent slap in the face, when he attempted, unlawfully and unconstitutionally, to prevent AfD members from entering government service,” he added.
Münzenmaier accused Ebling of political interference, stating: “Because the AfD finished ahead of the SPD in the second vote in the federal election in Ludwigshafen, Ebling is now in panic mode, trying to rid himself of a direct and successful competitor by making fabricated and untenable accusations of right-wing extremism.”
He warned that Ebling and those conspiring to exclude the AfD candidate “will pay the price for this transparent maneuver twice: through legal action and on election day.”
This is not the first time AfD candidates have been excluded from elections. Most recently, the electoral committee in Lippe district, North Rhine-Westphalia, denied the AfD a mayoral candidacy at the request of the Green Party, also citing concerns about loyalty to the constitution.
Ironically, it was actually a Social Democrat politician who was most recently “disloyal” to the constitution; Daniel Born, a then-MP in the Baden-Württemberg state parliament, was forced to resign last month for drawing a swastika on a ballot paper next to the AfD candidate.
Action against the AfD is also being taken at a federal level, with constant speculation over a potential wholesale ban of the party. Such a move could edge closer with the possible appointment of Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf, a lawyer described as far-left, to the Federal Constitutional Court.
Her appointment would increase the chances that a ban on the AfD party passes through the court.
The post AfD Files Legal Challenge After Mayoral Candidate Barred in Ludwigshafen appeared first on American Renaissance.
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Author: Henry Wolff
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