The father of one, the wife of another and more: politicians from the far-right party "Alternative for Germany" have employed relatives of their party members. How the AfD got involved in a huge scoundrel scandal.
Can politicians employ relatives of their party members in their offices? This week, a discussion was held in the Bundestag on this issue. The discussion was prompted by an investigation by the newspaper "Die Zeit" into scoundrelism in German politics, which had the effect of a bombshell.
The investigation focuses on the far-right party "Alternative for Germany" (AfG), parts of whose local structures in some federal states are recognized as extremist. As journalists have established, many members of this party have appointed relatives and friends of their party members to work in their offices, to whom they have paid the salaries designated for this from budget funds.
The appointments of acquaintances are numerous
In addition, on Thursday it became known that the representatives of Lower Saxony in the AfG group in the Bundestag have excluded MP Martina Uhr from their composition and have asked her to give up her parliamentary mandate. The reason: Uhr has appointed her partner, and possibly his daughter.
The co-chairman of the AfG and leader of the faction in the Bundestag, Tino Hrupal, has appointed the wife of his long-time colleague Roberto Kunert, a member of the parliament of the federal state of Saxony, to his office. Khrupala, for her part, claims that the woman was hired back in 2017, when her husband was not yet a member of the Saxon parliament.
The story of one of the AfD leaders in Saxony-Anhalt, Ulrich Sigmund, also caused a great stir. His father was hired in the office of one of Sigmund's party colleagues in the Bundestag, where he earned almost 100,000 euros a year. Journalists compare this figure with the average income in Saxony-Anhalt, which is much lower than half of this amount.
Since the journalistic investigation was published, information about new similar stories has been published almost daily. And the pattern is always the same: relatives of AfD politicians receive salaries by working for other politicians from the "Alternative for Germany". "And this is happening in a party that regularly condemns political cronyism in its programs and public appearances", notes "Die Zeit".
AfD accuses its opponents of a campaign against the party
The AfD leadership rejects the accusations of systematic cronyism. The party's co-chairwoman Alice Weidel called the accusations against the party "inflated". "We are holding individual conversations and so far nothing has been established that can be considered problematic. All the accusations raised are unfounded," she said.
The party says the appointments were made on the basis of professional qualities, trust and loyalty. Representatives of the party organization in Saxony-Anhalt called the criticism a "media-political campaign".
Formally, such appointments do not actually violate German law. The law on the status of deputies prohibits the employment of relatives, but does not restrict the appointment of relatives of party members. In addition, the AfD cites a shortage of personnel as an argument. For example, Roberto Kunert said that he understands the situation in which party members are looking for qualified collaborators among their party members: he complained that mentioning work in the far-right party in the work biography could be perceived negatively by other employers.
Nevertheless, the party leadership has sent a mediator to the region to investigate the situation and announced that it will set up a commission to draw up recommendations. There is no talk of banning this type of appointment for now.
The law on the activities of deputies may be changed
The AfD scandal has caused outrage among opponents of the far-right. Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that the party has a "deep-rooted system of cronyism and protectionism". He did not rule out the possibility of tightening the legislation on the activities of deputies.
"I would prefer to do without legislative regulation. But given the scale of the abuses, we probably won't be able to avoid this," he told the media.
The German Social Democratic Party has already announced a reform of the law on deputies. The party emphasizes that positions financed by the budget should not be used to employ relatives.
For now, MPs only sign a declaration that they do not employ their own relatives. Checks are carried out only if there are suspicions. Among the measures being discussed is the ban on so-called cross-appointments, when one person employs the relatives of another and vice versa, as well as the expansion of the list of family ties that would be subject to the employment ban.
Are there any manifestations of nepotism in other parties?
Journalists from "Die Zeit" questioned representatives of the offices of all 630 Bundestag deputies. They found that cases of appointing relatives also occur in other factions, including the Chancellor's party, the CDU. But the scale is incomparable to what is happening in the AfD, the authors of the study admit.
Local elections are due in September in two German states - Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. It is possible that the AfD will win a majority in Saxony-Anhalt. Some political scientists are convinced that the latest scandal could harm the party, as what happened completely contradicts its proclaimed values.